Subject experts, who had validated the answer key of May 17 Punjab Pre Medical Entrance Test (PMET), would appear in the Punjab and Haryana high court on Friday.As many as 32 candidates had on May 28 moved the HC, seeking cancellation of the exam, citing various reasons.
On Wednesday, the respondent, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot, told the court that these experts would respond to queries raised by petitioners.
BFUHS counsel Anupam Gupta said a Supreme Court order allows varsity to protect the identity of these examiners. But in order to clear the air on the matter, the names of these experts have supplied to the court.
Earlier, the HC was told that a set of 15 questions supplied by 10 petitioners, who had approached the court on Monday, have been examined by experts, who found the allegations made by students invalid.
During the hearing, the petitioners also submitted in the court a fresh set of ‘wrong’ questions that allegedly appeared in the test.
The vacation bench of Justice RK Jain indicated that it might allow examination of a question paper by one of the petitioners. The university has agreed to show the question paper to one of the students during the “in chamber” hearing to dispel their doubts.
{{/usCountry}}The vacation bench of Justice RK Jain indicated that it might allow examination of a question paper by one of the petitioners. The university has agreed to show the question paper to one of the students during the “in chamber” hearing to dispel their doubts.
{{/usCountry}}“I am opposed to the move of making the question paper public. But transcending beyond the brief, one of the students can be allowed to examine the question paper,” university counsel, senior advocate Anupam Gupta told the high court. It’s not clear who all would be allowed to attend the “in chamber” hearing by the court apart from one student.
Gupta , however, opposed the demand from petitioners’ side that a committee of National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) or Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) be formed to examine the question papers stating that it would mean that university’s experts did not inspire confidence. The university was accountable for every statement it made in the court, Gupta told the court.
Petitioners’ lawyer Girish Agnihotri said as per the university’s reply, only one set of question papers had been examined. What if others also had printing mistakes, he asked. He also reiterated allegations of mass copying and favouritism to favour VVIPS. However, the court did not accept the argument and observed that these were “sweeping statements”. If the petitioner had any specific allegations, it could point out the same, the court said.
The court also observed that the examination was delayed due to traffic chaos, which is a common problem in cities.
The petitioners on Wednesday also filed a supplementary petition challenging the university prospectus for the entrance test, whereby, the university had declared that it won’t allow question papers to be carried outside the examination hall after the test. The hearing would now resume on Friday.