HC appoints Senior Advocate to inquire into dispute over conduct of Madras University journalism dept. examination

Madras High Court appoints senior advocate to investigate dispute over examination date between University of Madras and student.

Considering the seriousness of a dispute between the University of Madras and its Journalism and Mass Communication department student, the Madras High Court has appointed a designated senior advocate to inquire as to whether an examination in ‘History of Communication’ paper was conducted on May 11, 2024 as claimed by the student or not.

Justice N. Mala appointed Senior Counsel A.K. Sriram to conduct the inquiry since the university stoutly denied the conduct of the examination on May 11, 2024 and claimed that it was conducted only on November 19, 2024. She permitted him to summon any witness or call for any document and directed the university as well as the student to cooperate with the inquiry.

“The learned Senior Counsel, for the purpose of inquiry, shall call for the WhatsApp messages as well as the records of the university... The learned Senior Counsel shall enquire the writ petitioner (student Amanda Miriam Fernandez R.), the staff/faculty concerned and the six students along with whom the petitioner claims to have written the exam on May 11, 2024,” the order read.

Mr. Sriram was requested to submit his inquiry report, along with supporting documents, before the court in a sealed cover by April 20, 2025. Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel V. Vasantha Kumar told the court that his client had initially filed a writ petition on April 26, 2024 seeking a direction to the university to conduct the examination in ‘History of Communication’ paper.

Justice Anita Sumanth dismissed the writ petition as infructuous on July 1, 2024 after it was reported on behalf of the petitioner that the examination was conducted on May 11, 2024 and therefore nothing survived to be adjudicated. Subsequently, the student had filed the present writ petition seeking a direction to the Controller of Examination to declare the results of the examination conducted on May 11, 2024.

However, opposing the plea, the university standing counsel V. Sudha told Justice Mala that no such examination was conducted on May 11, 2024 and that a false representation was made before the court during the hearing of the previous writ petition. The counsel asserted that the examination was conducted only on November 19, 2024 when six students, excluding the petitioner, appeared.

On the other hand, the writ petitioner’s counsel produced a question paper and claimed that seven other students had written the examination, along with the petitioner, on May 11, 2024. Since Ms. Sudha accused the petitioner of having produced a fake question paper before the court, the judge decided to order a detailed inquiry into the issue by a designated senior counsel.