ORDER

Leave granted

2. The two appellants, Rajesh Kumar and Harbir Singh appeared in the AIME Group B examination conducted by the respondent-Institute of Engineers (India) On June 1, 1990. Their Centre was at Tagore School, Karnal. No case of copying or any malpractice was ever noticed or reported by the supervisory staff attending the examination. somewhere in October 1990, the two appellants along with 11 other examinees received identical notices from the respondent-Institute seeking their explanation on the allegations of copying and malpractices mentioned therein. The contents of the notice were that the examiner evaluating the answer books of the examinees had reported that 13 examinees bad resorted to copying in as much as their answers to some of the questions in the examination were exactly the same and that on that basis it was thought that the examinees had adopted unfair means. The two appellants submitted their replies to the allegations stating that similarity in the answer books could be as a result of the preparation from the same text books as available in the market and that the question of copying could not arise as would be evident from the sitting plan of the