Patna University: Expulsion whip on ‘unfair’ students

Orders to reply to university showcause letters within a week, vacate hostel in 24 hours

The Patna University administration on Thursday decided on the quantum of punishment, including suspension up to a year, for students using unfair means during their postgraduation examinations last month.

The students can be debarred from promotion to next semester or suspended from the university/college for six months to a year.

Among the students expelled from writing examinations for using unfair means are 18 from the master of business administration (MBA) department. A committee was constituted to look into the charges. In a meeting convened on Thursday, the panel decided to issue letters to the students and fixed the quantum of punishment.

According to university sources, around 100 and odd students were expelled from the postgraduation examinations for using unfair means last month. The students were from the MBA, rural studies and MCom departments.

The university, for the first time, has decided to issue showcause notices on the expelled students sending letters to their residential address through registered post. In the showcause notice, the quantum of punishment for the students would be defined. It ranges from being refused promotion to next semester to expulsion from university/college for a period of six months to a year.

The letters would be issued by Friday. The students have been asked to reply to notices within a week.

The university’s unfair means committee, based on the report submitted by the examination controller, centre superintendent and flying squad, took the decision.

Patna University pro-vice-chancellor Ranjit Kumar Verma heads the unfair means committee. Among the members are Patna Science College principal U.K. Sinha, Patna Law College principal Rakesh Verma, dean of students’ welfare K.N. Paswan and others. Sources said the committee’s meeting on Thursday went for around four hours.

Patna University pro-vice-chancellor Ranjit Kumar Verma said: “The unfair means committee met and took some decisions.” He refused to share any information regarding the meeting, claiming confidentiality.

An MBA student, who was expelled, told  “We heard the university’s unfair means committee met today (Thursday). We are waiting for the showcause notice to arrive. Based on the notice, we (students) would discuss our next course of action.”

After the university expelled the MBA students last month, the others found using unfair means were subjected to the same punishment. However, the angry MBA examinees disrupted the first-semester postgraduation examinations at Patna College. The university’s students’ union also came up in support of the expelled students. The protests resulted in the postponement of at least two postgraduate examinations — one from March 24 to April 1 and another from March 26 to May 5.

Source: Telegraph