Mumbai: Observing that instances of cheating and mass copying in competent exams are a curse to the system, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court recently ordered the Maharashtra government to come up with a system to curb such malpractices by candidates. The HC has accordingly recommended several measures for putting an end to such malpractices. A bench of Justices Sanjay Gangapurwala and Arun Dhavale said, “We feel the mass copying, leakage of paper are curse to the system of assessment of the competency and merits. The persons indulging in such activities, within short time, on the basis of acquired manipulated intelligence, take away the fruits from hardworking meritorious students.”
The observation was made while dealing with a bunch of petitions challenging the decision of the Union government to scrap the merit list of selected candidates, who successfully cleared the exams for the post of Post Man and Chief Post Man General. The list was scrapped on the suspicion that there was mass copying and papers were leaked. The government also cited several other malpractices to justify its decision to cancel the list. Having scrutinised the material on record, the bench said, “We find that the cancellation of entire examination is not sustainable. The decision is irrational and unreasonable as the tainted candidates are small in number and can be segregated.”
The judges accordingly put forth a series of recommendations for the government to consider while conducting such exams. The bench has suggested that at least five questions papers must be set that too just an hour or two, before the exams. The judges have further asked the authorities to give up the process of printing the question papers. “We feel that, if the printing of the paper is avoided and is forwarded to the concerned centres just one hour before the exams by hackfree email, the leakage of papers during the printing process can be avoided. Care should be taken to see that the person applying is the one who is appearing for the exams,” the judges said.
“There should be prohibition from carrying mobiles or any other electronic devices at the exam and there should be frisking so that no copying material or electronic devices are carried by the candidates. Besides, there should be video recording, CCTV and also mobile jammers at the time of exams,” the bench added. The bench stressed on the need to have a system by which answer sheets can be assessed as expeditiously as possible. “A system should be evolved to assess the papers immediately after the exams are over and as early as possible. It should be ensured that the candidates have no scope to approach the paper examiners,” the bench said.
The bench further added, “These preventive measures may consume more time and raise the expenses but considering the consequences of failure of the exams, it is necessary to improve the system. When lakhs of candidates are appearing, increase in exam fees can take care of additional expenses.” The bench accordingly directed the government to reconsider the cases of all the petitioners.
