MBBS Marksheet Cancelled For Wearing Smart Watch During Exam; Supreme Court Issues Notice On Appeal

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice in an appeal against a Madras High Court order filed by a doctor whose marksheet had been cancelled during his MBBS exam as he wore a Smart Watch during his examination.

A Bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and S. Ravindra Bhat issued notice in the matter and granted Senior Advocate Dr. Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for the Petitioner, the liberty to file the relevant marksheet.

In today's hearing, Dhavan submitted to the Court that it was a matter where the State was saying that natural justice did not have to be followed at all.

"It is nobody's case that he used the Watch or fiddled with the Watch. It is simply a case of carrying a Watch when the Rules say, amongst other things, that you cannot carry digital electronics", submitted Dhavan.

He further argued that the Madras High Court had acknowledged the mistake committed by the Petitioner, but had also urged the University to forgive the petitioner. The difficulty arose was regarding the marksheet issued as it said "Cancelled" and would jeopardize the Petitioner's future because he wanted to go abroad for higher studies.

Accordingly, the Court issued notice in the matter.

The plea has been filed against order of Madras High Court's Division Bench comprising Justices MM Sundresh and Abdul Quddhose wherein the Court dismissed the writ appeal of the Petitioner and noted that he had committed a serious mistake by wearing a Smart Watch during his examination.

It had been submitted by the University to the High Court that instructions which had been given to the candidates clearly stated that they were prohibited from carrying any electronic devices. Despite being well aware of the instructions, the Petitioner had deliberately committed malpractice by carrying a Smart Watch which could store information related to the examination.

Noting that decisions of the Supreme Court in Nidhi Kaim v. State of Madhya Pradesh as well as Director, Dr. Ambedkar Institute of Hotel Management, Nutrition and Catering Technology, Chandigarh and Ors. v. Vaibhav Singh Chauhan squarely applied to the case at hand, the High Court stated that it was not necessary to show that the Petitioner had misused the Smart Watch for the purpose of getting answers to questions raised in the examination.

However, despite holding that the Order cancelling the examination was a correct order, the High Court did observe that the University could forgive the act of the Petitioner and that there would be no continuing stigma as he was already a doctor now:

"Any human being is bound to commit mistakes in life. In the case in hand, the Appellant has committed a serious mistake by carrying a Smart Watch into the examination hall, for which he has been adequately reprimanded. When his examination was cancelled, he was studying for his fifth year MBBS course and now it is learnt that he has completed the course and become a qualified doctor. To err is human and forgive is divine", the Court remarked.