A single Bench of Justice Javid Iqbal Wani has invoked the Public Law Doctrine for Award of Compensation to a student whose Answer sheet was wrongly evaluated by the University Authorities.

The petitioner, a student of University of Kashmir was declared failed in one paper for securing 27 marks as against 38 pass marks. The petitioner applied for reevaluation of said paper, whereupon Such re-evaluation, the petitioner was shown to have secured 40 marks, however the University scaled down the said 40 marks to 34 marks on the basis of a rule (Statute 10 of the University) and in the process changed the result of the primer for the said paper From pass to fail. 

The court while analysis the rule of University observed that a bare perusal of aforesaid Statute would manifestly tend to show that same did not in any manner apply to the case of the petitioner having regard to the issue pertaining to the paper in question, be it the un- amended or amended statute, in that, the respondents admittedly have applied the Statute to the case of the petitioner arbitrarily and illegally and in the process have acted unreasonably and unfairly having resulted into substantial and grave prejudice to the petitioner by subjecting him to reappear in the examination afresh in the paper in question, although the petitioner was found to have passed the paper in question, but for the wrong application of the aforesaid statute inasmuch as to cover-up the patent and blatant acts of omission by the Respondents.

The court while holding the act of University as illegal and arbitrary awarded a compensation of Rs One lakh to the Petitioner while invoking the Public Law Doctrine on the basis of Principles laid down by the Supreme Court in a case titled “United Air Travel Services v. Union of India reported in (2018) 8 SCC 141”.