The court's decision established that in peculiar circumstances, where candidates are already employed and not seeking any promotion or increments, the benefit of rounding off marks may be granted, especially when there is no rule barring such benefit.

ORDER

Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav, J. (Oral)--These are two writ petitions involving a common issue, therefore, they are being decided by this common order.

2. The petitioners in the instant cases are praying for consideration of marks obtained by them to be equivalent to 40%, while applying the principle of rounding off. The petitioners, in both the cases have obtained more than 39% marks as against the requirement of 40% marks as passing percentage to qualify All India Council for Technical Education examination (hereinafter as `AICTE' examination) being conducted for validation of petitioners' degrees.

3. As per the facts of the present cases, the petitioners had successfully completed their under-graduate course from distance learning from their respective Universities which were amongst the listed deemed to be Universities and were duly granted ex post facto approval by the Universities Grants Commission (hereinafter as `UGC'). The petitioners were enrolled during Academic Year 2001-2005 and after completion of their respective courses, they were employed at different Government departments and other institutions. Admittedly, all the petitioners were granted benefits by their employer with respect to the concerned course.

4. On account of the emanation of certain controversies with respect to the entitlement of the deemed to be Universities operating the concerned courses through distance mode and their approval with retrospective effect by the UGC, the issue came to be considered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Orissa Lift Irrigation Corporation Limited v. Rabi Sankar Patro and Ors., (2018) 1 SCC 468.

5. The Hon'ble Supreme Court, in the said case, found that the exercise of granting of ex post facto approval was incorrect and illegal. It was noted that the logical course in normal circumstances would have been not only to set aside such ex post facto approval but also to pass consequential directions to recall all the degrees granted in pursuance thereof. The Hon'ble Supreme Court, however, considered the matter with a sympathetic view so that the interest of those students, who were enrolled during the Academic Year 2001-2005, is protected.

6. It was found that on account of lapse of time, it was not possible to order any inspection of the concerned institutions, however, to maintain the confidence and assurance about the worthiness of the concerned students, the Hon'ble Supreme Court directed that an opportunity must be provided to the concerned students to have their ability tested by the competent authority. Accordingly, it was directed that all the degrees in engineering granted to students who were enrolled during the Academic Year 2001-2005 in such institutions shall stand suspended till they pass such examination under the Joint Supervision of AICTE-UGC, as indicated in the said order.

7. The paragraph nos. 57 and 58 of the directions issued by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Orissa Lift Irrigation Corporation Limited (supra) read as under:

"57. Having found the entire exercise of grant of ex post facto approval to be incorrect and illegal, the logical course in normal circumstances would have been not only to set aside such ex post facto approvals but also to pass consequential directions to recall all the degrees granted in pursuance thereof in respect of courses leading to award of degrees in Engineering. However, since the 2004 UGC Guidelines themselves had given liberty to the deemed to be universities concerned to apply for ex post facto approval, the matter is required to be considered with some sympathy so that interest of those students who were enrolled during the academic sessions 2001-2005 is protected. Though we cannot wish away the fact that the deemed to be universities concerned flagrantly violated and entered into areas where they had no experience and started conducting courses through distance education system illegally, the overbearing interest of the students concerned