The Delhi High Court recently set aside a Delhi University (DU) order cancelling all papers of an LL.B. student accused of using unfair means during an exam..Justice Jasmeet Singh held that the punishment cancelling all papers for the semester was not proportionate."In my opinion, the cancellation of the papers of the entire semester is not proportional, as even on preponderance of probability, it has not been proved that the petitioner was found using the material for copying or cheating in the paper," the Court order stated..The petitioner was appearing for the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita paper on January 13, 2025, when he stepped out to use the washroom. A faculty member followed him and allegedly found him cheating from a slip at the urinal. A show cause notice followed and the University's Examination Disciplinary Committee began an unfair means inquiry.The Committee initially debarred him from all exams till the end of the following semester under Clause C of the applicable guidelines. On appeal, the Committee reduced this to Clause B, resulting in cancellation of all papers for that semester..The petitioner challenged this before the High Court. The University had already declared his results in every subject except the paper in which the unfair means case was registered.The Court found that the inquiry report contained no statement from the faculty member stating that the petitioner was found using the material. It reiterated that such inquiries are tested on preponderance of probability, not proof beyond reasonable doubt. However, even on that standard, it noted that actual use of the material was not shown.Since the report only showed that material was found in the washroom, the petitioner was entitled to the benefit of doubt, the Court said. Therefore, it held that the case instead fell under Clause A, a lesser punishment involving cancellation of only the specific paper, with the student deemed to have scored zero in that paper.The petitioner was represented by advocates Deepak Janghu, Ankush Yadav, Karan Thobhani and Sarthak Mahajan.Delhi University was represented by advocates Amanpreet Singh and Harpreet Singh..[Read Order]
