Courts should refrain from intervening in factual disputes in writ petitions and should only annul/cancel competitive exams with sufficient evidence of misconduct or negligence.

Judgment

Sanjeev Narula, J. (Oral). - CM APPL. 1385/2021 (for exemption)

1. Exemption allowed, subject to just exceptions.

2. The application is disposed of.

LPA 21/2021 & CM APPL. Nos. 1383/2021 (for ad-interim reliefs), 1384/2021 (for directions to Respondent No. 2 - UPSC)

3. The present Letters Patent Appeal under Clause 10 of Letters Patent is directed against the final order and judgment dated 20th November, 2020 passed by the learned Single Judge in W.P.(C) 8510 of 2020. By way of the impugned order, the learned Single Judge has dismissed the writ petition filed by the Petitioner (being the Appellant herein) praying for a writ of Certiorari seeking inter alia the quashing of the examination of the National Defence Academy & Naval Academy Examination (II), 2020 held on 6th September, 2020 by the Respondent No. 2.

4. On 16th June, 2020, Respondent No. 2 issued notice No. 08/2020-NDA-II for the abovesaid examination. Pursuant thereto, the Appellant applied, and was allocated a roll number for appearing in the examination, to be held at the test centre at Bhopal Institute of Technology, Bhojpur Road, Bhopal. The grievance of the Appellant is that on the date of examination there were irregularities by the invigilators at the examination centre, inasmuch as, the question paper and the OMR sheets distributed prior to the exam, were subsequently changed by them. This resulted in a loss of approximately 30 minutes of precious time, putting 96 candidates having Roll Nos. from 0413369 to 0413464 under mental stress and causing them inconvenience and disadvantage in a highly competitive examination. This was reported to Respondent No. 2 by way of an e-mail dated 08th September, 2020 followed by a reminder on 18th September, 2020.

5. The stand of Respondent No. 2 in respect of the aforesaid complaints was intimated to the petitioner vide e-mail dated 25th September, 2020 wherein it was inter alia stated that:

"The matter was taken up with the coordinating supervisor, Bhopal and it has been informed that in 'E' section at Bhopal Institute of Technology, Bhopal in the second session, question papers were distributed at 1:55 pm. However, some question paper was distributed wrongly and OMR sheets of some candidates were changed which took 4-5 minutes and hence there was no loss of time for the candidates. It may please also be noted that no such complaint has been received from any other candidate. "

6. In the afore-noted factual background, the Appellant preferred the writ petition praying for a writ of Certiorari seeking quashing of the examination conducted in pursuance to the Examination Notice No. 08/2020-NDA-II. Additionally, a writ of mandamus was also prayed for directing the Respondents to re-conduct the examination afresh and, in the alternative, a direction to the Respondent to allow the Petitioner to appear in the next examination to be held in the year 2021.

7. The learned Single Judge took note of the rival contentions of the parties, and observed that the factual dispute relating to the time lost on account of re-distribution of papers is a fact which cannot be determined on the basis of the material on record, to take a view one way or the other. Further the learned Single Judge observed that the factual issue can only be substantiated by leading evidence on the disputed questions of fact, which cannot be examined in a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. In view of the settled legal position relating to the exercise of the writ jurisdiction by the Courts, the learned Single Judge opined that the Court cannot enter into the arena of a factual dispute and the Petitioner is best left to raise his grievances by initiating civil proceedings and/or claiming damages.

8. Mr. Tanmaya Mehta, learned counsel for the Appellant argues that the learned Single Judge has failed to appreciate that on the date of the examination, the OMR sheets were distributed to the candidates at 1:50 PM and the question papers at 2:00 PM