Point of Law: Bank - Look Out Circulars - Liquidity of finances and flow of money is essential for any healthy and growth oriented economy - emphasis is on expression "economic interests of India” or larger public interest".

JUDGMENT :

Though these appeals are listed to consider interim applications, including I.A.No.1/2021 seeking condonation of delay of 52 days in filing W.A.No.400/2021, on condoning the said delay (vide separate order) and with the consent of learned counsel appearing for both sides, they have been heard finally.

2. W.A.No.333/2021 has been filed by the Registrar (Evaluation) of Visvesvaraya Technological University (hereinafter referred to as ‘University’ for the sake of brevity) against the order passed in R.P.No.36/2021 filed in W.P.No.42781/2018, under which, the University was directed to announce review petitioner’s/student’s sixth Semester results immediately and also to permit him to appear in written examination for seventh Semester.

3. W.A.No.400/2021 has been filed by the writ petitioner assailing the order dated 12.01.2021 passed in W.P.No.42781/2018. By the said order, the learned Single Judge disposed of the writ petition by upholding the penalty order and directed the University to permit the appellant student to appear for ‘Basic Electrical Engineering’ subject and seven other subjects in II Semester except ‘Engineering Chemistry’, which he has passed in 2019, in the next examination or the following examination, as the petitioner/appellant herein may choose to. A further direction was issued to the University to announce all withheld results immediately.

4. Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that, the appellant-student joined for four-year B.E. Mechanical Engineering Course at respondent-College at Mangaluru to study Mechanical Engineering course in June-2017. He appeared for the first Semester examination during December-2017 (seven papers) and he failed in two out of seven subjects. Appellant-student appeared for the second Semester examination in May-2018 (eight papers) and there again, he failed in one subject and also had two backlog subjects of I Semester examination.

5. On 30.06.2018, appellant-student appeared in the subject – Basic Electrical Engineering. On that day, Inspection Squad visited the college and found that the appellant-student had copied in the examination, inasmuch as he had seven pages of notes, which he had carried to the examination hall. The Malpractice Cases Consideration Committee (hereinafter referred to as ‘MC3’ for the sake of convenience) conducted an enquiry against the appellant-student, during which he admitted that he had indeed carried the chits of paper to the examination hall, which was not intentional, but due to tension of the examination, he had not left them behind, before entering the examination hall. On the said admission of the appellant-student, MC3 recommended that the appellant-student must be denied the benefit of performance in June-July 2018 examination. In other words, the examinations in which the appellant-student appeared in June-July 2018, viz., eight subjects of second Semester and two subjects of first Semester, were cancelled i.e., ten subjects in all.

6. Thereafter, the Registrar (Evaluation) passed an order dated 10.08.2018 (Annexure-C) informing the appellant-student about the malpractice committed by him in the examination held in June-July 2018 and the penalties that had been imposed on him. One of the penalties was the denial of the benefit of performance in examinations conducted during June-July 2018 in all subjects, in which appellant-student had registered and appeared.

7. Being aggrieved by the severe punishment imposed on him, W.P.No.42781/2018 was filed assailing the order dated 10.08.2018 (Annexure-C) and consequential reliefs were sought in the writ petition. The University, in the said writ petition, filed statement of objections along with certain documents. Learned Single Judge disposed of the writ petition by upholding the penalty imposed on the writ petitioner (appellant-student herein). Thereafter, petitioner filed R.P.No.36