MU bars Bhiwandi college as examination centre following paper leak

The University of Mumbai has banned a college from serving as an examination centre for two years following a paper leak case.

Mumbai: The University of Mumbai (MU) has banned Gajananrao Pandurang Patil Arts, Commerce, and Science College, Bhiwandi, from serving as an examination centre for the next two years. This decision comes in the aftermath of a paper leak case, leading to the arrest of a lab assistant from the said college.

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The MU administration conveyed this strict measure to the college through a letter on Saturday. In the communication, Prasad Karande, director of the Examination and Evaluation Board at MU, stated, “After a meeting with the investigation committee tasked with probing the paper leak incident on November 18, MU has decided to impose a two-year ban on the college as an examination center.”

This marks the first stern action by MU in 13 years, the last being in 2011 against BNN College in Bhiwandi for a similar offence.

The recent incident happened on October 31 when a 20-year-old, B.Com semester 5 student, Ansh Sada, was apprehended for cheating during the Human Resource Management (HRM) examination at Siddharth College of Commerce and Economics, Fort. Subsequent investigations led to the arrest of a lab assistant affiliated with the Bhiwandi College by the Azad Maidan police.

An MU official stated that the university identified negligence on the part of the college administration and found an individual from the college guilty. The stringent action aims to establish control over such incidents.

In 2011, following a similar action against BNN College, the institution approached the Bombay High Court to challenge the ban imposed by MU. However, the High Court declined to lift the ban.