'Courts Can't Trench & Pick Holes In The Academic Pasture' : Kerala High Court Dismisses Plea Moved By 92 MBBS Students

The Kerala High Court on Monday reiterated that courts should steer away from replacing its views in the place of expert opinion in academic matters.  

Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V observed that it is not the domain of courts to trench in the academic pasture and pick holes in it and that it is better to give preference to the opinion of experts in the field in such matters. 

"It is not the domain of the Courts to trench in the academic pasture and pick holes therein. It has been held by the Apex Court that Courts should be averse to substitute its own views as to what is wise, prudent and proper in relation to academic matters in preference to the opinion of experts in the field."

The observation came in a plea moved by a group of over 90 MBBS students alleging that the question papers set for General Medicine Paper-I and General Medicine Paper-II (supplementary examination) were not in conformity with the Examination Manual and the prescriptions in the Syllabus and Model Questions issued by the Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS)

The petitioners belonged to various colleges affiliated with KUHS and were represented by Senior Advocate S Sreekumar and Advocate Manoj Ramaswamy. They sought a declaration that they had passed the said exams and also prayed for an enquiry into their allegations regarding the violations of the examination manual.

On the other hand, the University represented by its Standing Counsel P Sreekumar submitted that the question paper setters were appointed by the Controller of Examinations for the subjects concerned out of panels prepared based on recommendations of the Board of Studies.

The Judge found that a foolproof procedure was followed by the University while selecting the panel of question paper setters. It was also evident that the University appointed Question Paper Scrutinizers to verify if the papers were set as per the syllabus.

"This Court cannot sit in judgment over the decisions of an academic body in so far as it sets the questions for a subject, particularly when this Court has no domain expertise in these matters. The petitioners have not been able to point out any blatant violation of the statutory provisions, Rules, Regulations or Guidelines."

Finding that the papers were set on the basis of recommendations by experts, the Court deemed it appropriate to dismiss the petition. 

Case Title: Aravind TR & Ors. v Kerala University of Health Sciences

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Ker) 137

Click Here To Read/Download The Order