JOIN USThe Supreme Court on Thursday held that the eligibility criteria prescribed in an examination cannot be relaxed by applying the principle of “rounding off” marks, obtained by a candidate unless it is specifically mentioned in the rules.
A bench of Justices A K Patnaik and Ranjana Prakash Desai settled the question of law saying that no rounding off of the marks of a candidate in a qualifying examination could be allowed as it would not be just for other candidates.
“When eligibility criteria is prescribed in a qualifying examination, it must be strictly adhered to. Any dilution or tampering with it will work injustice on other candidates,” the court said. The court passed the ruling while disposing of an appeal filed by Registrar of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore challenging a Karnataka High Court’s division bench order.
The high court had in October, 2010 allowed G Hemlata’s plea for rounding-off of 54.71 per cent marks that she obtained to 55 per cent so as to make her eligible for admission to MSc (Nursing) course.