Nagpur varsity admits paper leak, orders re-examination

As many as 2,965 students will now have to reappear for the exam to be held on July 8, sources said today.

Vice-Chancellor Vilas Sapkal, while using special powers given on behalf of Board of Examinations (BoE) under Section 32(4) of Maharashtra Universities Act, 1994, took the decision after police last week confirmed that the leak had indeed taken place and e-mails, through which the paper was leaked, were not fabricated.

The VC was forced to take action after facing flak from Chancellor and Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan yesterday.

The Chancellor wanted to know what action had been taken after the police had confirmed the leak.

Several academicians of the city had termed the paper leak as the biggest controversy to hit the varsity after the Kohchade marks scam in 1999.

The varsity chose to admit the leak through a press release issued late last night, signed by PRO Prashant Mohite.

Controller of Examinations (CoE) Siddharth Kane, who had initially accused local media of fabricating the leak, confirmed that they had cancelled the Business Law paper of final year B.Com and would now conduct a re-examination on July 8.

"Only re-exam of this paper will be conducted and we will declare the results within five days," he said.

The students have to bring old hall-tickets. The exam centres will be the same as allotted earlier. "In case of hall tickets being lost, they should contact their respective colleges and get it for Rs 25. We have already informed all centres about the new procedure," Kane added.

Chancellor nominee on Management Council, Sanjay Khadakkar, who had initially confirmed the leak in his report, remarked that though late, the VC had taken a right decision. "He should have done it much earlier for the benefit of students. Now, their results should be declared as early as possible," he said.