The Governing Body of a medical faculty cannot cancel an entire examination based on mere suspicion of unfair means without giving the candidates an opportunity to offer an explanation.

( 1 ) THIS is an application under Article 226 of the Constitution for an appropriate writ directing the opposite parties to withdraw or revoke the order of cancellation of the Intermediate Licentiateship Medical examination held at the Burdwan centre in June 1051 and to publish the results of the said examination. The petitioner is a Matriculate of the University of Calcutta. In 1947 he got himself admitted into the Chittagong Medical School in Eastern Pakistan for the purpose of obtaining a L. M. F. Diploma. In 1948 the petitioner passed the Primary examination. In February 1950 owing to communal disturbances in Eastern Pakistan the petitioner and his family came over to India as refugees. After coming to India, the petitioner continued his medical studies and got himself admitted in the Burdwan Ronaldshay Medical School, which is an institution run by the State Medical Faculty of West Bengal. In November 1960 the petitioner appeared in the Intermediate examination conducted by the said Faculty and out of the 3 subjects prescribed for such examination the petitioner passed in two subjects namely Physiology and Pharmacology but was unsuccessful in the 3rd subject namely Anatomy. Under R, 4 of the Rules and Regulations of the said Medical Faculty relating to Intermediate Licentiateship examination a candidate who fails in one subject only is on payment of a certain fee permitted to appear in that subject at the next 6 monthly examination and if he passes he shall be held to have passed the entire examination, but a candidate failing to pass or appear under this provision shall be required to appear in all subjects of the examination. By virtue of this rule the petitioner got a chance to appear in the Anatomy paper at the June term examination in 1951. In April 1951 the medical school where the petitioner was prosecuting his studies held a test examination and the petitioner stood first in Anatomy. Thereafter the petitioner appeared at the June term of the Intermediate examination of the Medical Faculty which was held on or about 7-6-1951. Under the rules the petitioner had to sit for a theoretical examination in Anatomy and also for oral and practical examination. The theoretical examination was held on the aforesaid date namely 7-6-1951 and on 18-6-1951 the oral and practical examinations were held. It is alleged that the petitioner fared well in all these examinations. It appears that about 71 students from different schools in West Bengal appeared in the said examination of the June term held in the Burdwan centre. Under the rules and regulations framed for the conduct of these medical examinations the examinations at the different centres are conducted under the supervision of a presiding officer, inspectors, convenor and invigilators. It appears that so far as this June term examination in Burdwan centre was concerned there was no unhappy incident during the examination. There was no case of detection of any unfair means being adopted by any of the candidates and there was no case of any expulsion from the examination hall for taking any unfair means and there was no adverse report by either the presiding officer or the inspectors or the invigilators conducting the examination. It further appears from the rules and regulations for the conduct of the medical examination that the examiners who conduct oral and practical examinations are to examine and look over the written theoretical papers of the examinees before they take up oral and practical examinations of these examinees and they are further to enter the marks of the theoretical papers on the slip rolls. It is alleged that at the time the petitioner's practical and oral examination was held the theoretical written papers and the roll slips containing the marks of that paper were before the examiners. After the oral and practical examination of the petitioner was over the petitioner got the impression that he had fared well in such examination but sometime l