The main legal point established in the judgment is the limited scope of judicial review in academic matters and the requirement for a candidate to demonstrate that the key answers are patently wrong on the face of it before the court can intervene.

JUDGMENT :

1. The present appeal has been filed under Clause X of the Letters Patent Act, 1865, read with Section 10 of the Delhi High Court Act, 1966, against the Judgment dated 05.07.2021 passed by this Court in W.P.(C) No. 918 of 2021 whereby the writ petition filed by the Respondent herein was allowed.

2. The facts, in brief, leading to the instant appeal are as under:

a) It is stated that the Screening Test Regulations, 2002, made by the Medical Council of India (now National Medical Commission) in exercise of its powers under Section 33 of the India Medical Council Act, 1956, instituted the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (hereinafter referred to as the “FMGE”) Screening Test which must be taken by any Indian citizen/Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) who has been conferred a primary medical degree from a foreign medical institution, but wishes to be provisionally or permanently registered with the MCI or any State Medical Council on or after 15.03.2002. The FMGE is conducted by the Appellant herein - National Board of Examination (hereinafter referred to as the “NBE”).

b) On 04.12.2020, the NBE conducted the FMGE (Screening Test) December, 2020, which is a multiple-choice examination consisting of 300 questions. In order to pass, one needs to score 50% in the examination, and there is no negative marking for incorrect answers. Post-exam review of all the questions on the FMGE Screening Test was conducted between 07.12.2020 and 12.12.2020, and it is stated that no error was found in the same. The results of the FMGE Screening Test were announced on 18.12.2020.

c) Representations were made to the NBE alleging that one question was technically incorrect. Pursuant to this, the NBE constituted a five-member Expert Committee on 11.01.2021 to look into the issue. Vide report dated 15.01.2021, the Expert Committee concluded that the said question was technically correct, and vide Notice dated 16.01.2021, NBE clarified that the result declared on 18.12.2020 was the final result.

d) Thereafter, W.P.(C) 918 of 2021 was filed by the Respondent herein, an association consisting of Indian citizens who hold degrees in medicine from foreign universities, claiming that there was a patently erroneous question in the examination paper. During the course of the proceedings, the Respondent herein restricted its relief to the grant of one additional mark to the candidates who had taken the said paper.

e) As the alleged incorrect question pertained to the Sample Registration System (SRS), vide Order dated 05.07.2021, the learned Single Judge directed the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (hereinafter referred to as the “RGI”) to file a short affidavit. The question has been reproduced as follows:

"Sample Registration System gives information about all except:

a. Birth rate; b. Death rate; c. Maternal Mortality rate; d. Infant mortality rate".

f) The SRS stated that information is provided by them for all the four choices, i.e. birth rate, death rate, maternal mortality rate and infant mortality rate. On the basis of this affidavit, the learned Single Judge pronounced the impugned Judgment dated 05.07.2021 wherein W.P.(C) 918 of 2021 was partly allowed and the following direction was given:

“46. For the reasons aforesaid, the writ petition is partly allowed in the above terms. The respondent is directed to treat the disputed question (set out in paragraph 4 above) as deleted from the FMGE (December 2020), and to award one extra mark to those candidates who were assessed as having answered it incorrectly. In the event any candidate thus achieves the passing score of 150 marks, they would be treated as having passed the FMGE (December 2020). The aforesaid directions be complied with within four weeks from today.”

g) Aggrieved by the Judgment dated 05.07.2021 in W.P.(C) 918 of 2021, the Appellant herein has approached this Court by way of the instant appeal.

3. Mr. Maninder Singh, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the Appellant-NBE, sub