INVC,,
Chandigarh,
A Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, today, directed the Panjab University to award a Gold Medal, alongwith all other recognitions he is entitled to, within six weeks to Mr. Rubinder Brar, for having topped the Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) Examination held in 1992.
Mr. Dheeraj Jain, Advocate counsel for the petitioner submitted that Mr. Rubinder Brar joined Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) at Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh in 1988 and completed the degree in 1992 in First Division with Honours, scoring 6497 marks out of 8000. As per the University Regulations, the candidate who stands first in the Examination is entitled to be awarded a Gold Medal by the University. However, the medal was not awarded to Mr. Brar on the ground that as per the University Rules, a medal can be granted only to those candidates who clear all exams “at the first attempt”, and as Mr. Brar had dropped one Theory exam in the 4th Semester in May 1990 due to a serious illness and cleared the said exam in the subsequent available opportunity in January 1991, therefore he is not entitled to a Medal.
Mr. Dheeraj Jain, Advocate, appearing for the petitioner argued that the ground on which the medal has been denied to the petitioner by the University is erronoeuos and the petitioner is fully entitled to the award of the said medal. He said that as the petitioner could not appear for the Theory exam as he was very seriously ill and had been advised complete bedrest during that time. He said that, as the petitioner did not appear for the theory exam, it could not be considered his ‘first attempt’. He said that the petitioner appeared for the said exam in the very next available opportunity in 1991 and cleared the examination in that very attempt. Therefore, he has cleared all his examinations in his ‘first attempt’. He also cited Regulation 14 of the Regulations for the course framed by the University, wherein ‘first attempt’ has been defined by the University as ‘first time a candidate has actually sat for the subject in the University Examination’. He also said that Mr. Brar is a meritorious student throughout his career and also stood first in the entire university in the Master of Engineering Examination held in 1994. He also cleared UPSC examination in 1999 with 2nd rank and thereafter cleared PPSC and PCS examinations.
After hearing the arguments, the court directed the University to confer a Gold Medal upon Mr. Brar, alongwith all other recognitions that he would be entitled to. The court also directed the Panjab University to do the same within a period of six weeks of the receipt of a copy of the order.
Hon’ble Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Surya Kant constituted the bench.
