The Mumbai University told the Bombay High Court that it would send an examiner from Siddharth Law College in Mumbai to the Nashik Road Central Prison so that a convict in the 2006 train blasts case can take his law exam on June 12 at the prison.
The convict, Mohammad Sajid Margub Ansari, was supposed to take his second semester law exams in May. However, out of the four exams in the semester, he had taken one and missed two. Notably, the next exam in the semester is scheduled for June 12.
Ansari will take the missed exams during the next semester.
Advocates Mihir Desai and Pritha Paul, representing Ansari, said that he had missed one of the exams on May 9 because the policemen on escort duty were occupied during the recent Parliamentary elections. By the time they took Ansari from Nashik to Siddharth Law College, the exam was over.
Following this, Mumbai University, which was recently added as a party respondent in the plea hearing, held a meeting with the prison authorities and came up with this solution.
Advocate Rui Rodriguez, representing the University, and Additional Public Prosecutor Mankuvar Deshmukh said that an examiner would reach Nashik prison, and the examination would be held in a separate room inside the prison.
The question paper would be sent online, about 15 minutes before the examination, to the prison superintendent, who would then take a printout and hand it over to the examiner. After the exam, the answer sheet would be collected by the examiner, who would bring it to Siddharth Law College.
Mankuvar expressed that some of those in prison are “hard-core criminals” and it becomes very difficult for the state to bring them out to take exams.
“Due to the heavy police security required for these accused, the escort charges are about Rs 81,000 per day, and it creates a lot of hassle at the examination center as well. So, in the future, when prisoners need to be taken out to take an exam, this system can be used,” said Mankuvar.
However, Rodriguez said that this should not be taken as a precedent.
The bench of Justices Bharti Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande said, “Why not? If people want to improve their educational qualifications, then why not? And when accused have to be taken to exam centers, this does create a lot of obligations.”
Rodriguez then suggested that for such professional courses like law, the Bar Council of India be impleaded as a party respondent so that a solution could be found.
The bench agreed and said that it would keep Ansari’s plea pending and consider the wider issue in the future. Ansari’s plea will be heard again on July 1.
The bench also appreciated that the Deputy Inspector General of prisons had taken a positive stand and suggested that a policy might need to be framed so that such applications do not have to be filed every time.
Source Agencies
