Cheating in exams plague-like pandemic, must be dealt with heavy hand: Delhi High Court

NEW DELHI : Copying and cheating in examinations is like the plague which can ruin society and the education system, and those using unfair means have to be dealt with a heavy hand, the Delhi High Court has said. Observing that the integrity of the education system has to be infallible for any country's progress, a division bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma said students who resort to unfair means and get away with it cannot build the nation.

The court made the remarks while hearing an appeal against an order of the single judge refusing to interfere with the cancellation of the examinations undertaken by the appellant, an engineering student, who was found using unfair means in the end-term second semester examination.

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“Copying and cheating in examinations is like Plague. It is a pandemic which can ruin society and the educational system of any country. If the same is left unchecked or if leniency is shown, the same can have a deleterious effect. For any country's progress, the integrity of the educational system has to be infallible,” said the bench, also comprising Justice Subramonium Prasad in a recent order.

“Persons using unfair means to steal march over students who work hard to prove their worth have to be dealt with a heavy hand. Students, who resort to unfair means and get away with it, cannot build this nation. They cannot be dealt with leniently and they should be made to learn a lesson not to adopt unfair means in their life,” the court said.

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The court said in the present case, certain students were able to get hold of the question paper and shared the questions and answers amongst themselves, which gave them an unfair advantage over those who burned the midnight oil to prepare for the exams. The court asserted the conduct of all stakeholders has to reflect unblemished commitment -- whether it is paper setters maintaining utmost confidentiality or students not cheating or invigilators being vigilant etc – and the appellant's university was, in fact, lenient in not rusticating those who had cheated.

“Whether it is paper setters maintaining utmost confidentiality, students not cheating, invigilators being vigilant, examiners doing their job with utmost alacrity knowing that the future of students is in their hands, Universities and colleges not tampering with results - the conduct of all stakeholders has to reflect commitment and also be unblemished,” the court said. “The Apex Court in (a decision) has stressed on the need to maintain purity and strict discipline in the conduct of examinations, deeming it to be necessary for the overall progress of the nation,” noted the court. The court dismissed the appeal and said the order of the single judge did not require any interference.