New Delhi: A petition has been filed in the
Supreme Court seeking a stay on the government's decision to
re-conduct the All India Engineering Entrance Examination
(AIEEE) for candidates who could not appear in the May 1 test
due to question paper leak.
The petition, filed by former Professor A P Sinha of NIT
Jamshedpur, has appealed against a Delhi High Court order
which issued notices to the government but refused to stay its
decision to re-conduct the AIEEE on May 11.
"As per the scheme of the examination, two separate
examinations are not envisaged at all for a single merit list
based on performances. Deviations leave the process illegal,
unjust, unconstitutional, arbitrary and clearly against
fundamental rights of equality of all the candidates," the
petition said.
The main plea before the High Court was for the
cancellation of the examination held on May 1 and conducting
it afresh in near future providing equal opportunity to each
and every candidate.
The petitioner had sought stay on the government's
notification dated May 2 for holding the AIEEE on May 11 for
the candidates who could not take it on May 1 due to confusion
arising out of the leakage of the question paper.
As the High Court did not stay the rescheduled exam,
the petitioner approached the apex court contending that "High
Court's decision results into effectively disallowing the main
petition rendering the same as infructuous".
The petitioner contended that the government is
"conducting two AIEEE 2011 exams under two very different
conditions -- one in adverse and disadvantageous condition,
marked by chaos in which 97 per cent of the total candidates
appeared, while only 3 per cent candidates are allowed to
appear on May 11 in an undue advantageous positions".
"This will certainly lead to conditions in which it can
never produce a just, fair, bonafide and legally sustainable
merit list of rankings and thereby may open a floodgate of
future litigation and challenges," the petition said.
The petitioner has made the Ministry of Human Resource
Development, the secretary of the AIEEE unit of the Central
Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and its Director
(Special Exams) as respondents.
"The respondents remained silent and insensitive and
are trying to cover up all the irregularities committed by
proposing to hold an unprecedented second exam only for
selective candidates and others on undisclosed and vague
administrative grounds," states the petitioner.
He claims that "though the news of question paper
leaks and confirmation thereof by the top concerned officials
came at 7.30 AM on May 1 itself which was much before the
scheduled starting time for the AIEEE 2011, the exam was
conducted defying all the established norms and practice of
law and legality."
On May 1, the examination was delayed by CBSE by three
hours following the paper leak. It was scheduled at 9.30 AM
but was rescheduled to begin at 12 noon on the same day.
The question paper was reportedly being sold in the
open market in Lucknow. A man was arrested by the Special Task
Force of the Uttar Pradesh Police for his alleged role in the
leakage.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, May 08, 2011, 10:31