HC directs GB Pant Univ to issue marksheets to BTech students, terms re-exam order ‘harsh’

Dehradun: Uttarakhand high court on Friday directed GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology to issue marksheets for the entire course to two BTech students within two weeks, and set aside the varsity's earlier disciplinary action against them. A single-judge bench of Justice Pankaj Purohit passed the order on petitions filed by Aryansh Singh and Arjita Bora, who challenged the university's decision requiring them to reappear for all sixth-semester examinations in 2024 on allegations of unfair means.According to the case records, invigilators found material scribbled on the left palm of one of the students during the examination. The students were subsequently debarred from the third year by an order dated Aug 27, 2024. They later approached HC which provisionally permitted them to complete the sixth semester of third year and seventh and eighth semesters of fourth year. In June last year, the court also directed the vice-chancellor to take a lenient view in the matter. However, on Aug 13, 2025, the university directed the students to reappear for the sixth-semester examinations. The petitioners alleged discrimination, contending that similarly placed students accused of using unfair means had been exonerated and issued marksheets. The university argued that those cases stood on a different footing and that the petitioners had already been treated leniently by being asked to rewrite only the sixth semester instead of the entire academic year.The court observed that the university's disciplinary committee had not examined evidence to establish whether scribbled material was actually used during the examination. "Something was found scribbled on the petitioner's palm and there is nothing in the inquiry to indicate whether the material scribbled on his palm was used during the examination or not. In such a view of the matter, this court is of the opinion that the action of the university in directing the students to write the examination afresh for the sixth semester appears to be very harsh," the bench noted.After hearing both sides, the bench allowed the petitions and directed the university to issue the students' marksheets for the entire course. The court observed that the students had already appeared in the sixth semester pursuant to an interim order and had cleared it, though their results were subsequently withheld.