Bombay High Court directs Mumbai University to consider Ravindra Nannavare’s grade improvement plea | Canva
The Bombay High Court has directed Mumbai University (MU) to consider the application of Ravindra Nannavare, a former student of the Bachelor of Social Work course, seeking permission to appear for a grade improvement exam. The court’s bench, consisting of Justices A.S. Chandurkar and Arif Doctor, instructed the university to address the request by April 10, ahead of the commencement of the Semester VI exams on April 11.
Nannavare, 32, a resident of Badlapur from an economically and socially backward community, is hoping to enhance his marks so that he is eligible for a master’s degree scholarship offer in the UK. After his results were announced on July 27, 2018, Nannavare scored 54.73 per cent, falling short of the 55 per cent eligibility mark for a scholarship scheme announced by the state’s Social and Special Assistance Department for 2023-24. His cumulative grade point average (CGPA) was 4.23.
Nannavare, pointing towards the circular issued by MU on March 18, 2021, permitting candidates to apply for grade improvement within five years of the initial results, applied for the improvement exam on July 2, 2023. But the College of Social Work Nirmala Niketan told him that it did not know the procedure since he had passed the exam five years back. Unable to secure a reassessment of his performance, Nannavare moved to the High Court, as reported by the Times of India.
His lawyer, Kaustubh Gidh, pointed out that this was Nannavare’s last chance to apply for the scholarship. The court noted that Nannavare’s application for improvement was made before the five-year period expired, and thus, MU should have considered his request. According to the TOI report, the court has instructed MU to scrutinize his application, and the college must help the university in this respect.
The court also allowed Nannavare to fill out his Semester VI exam form with a late fee, making it clear that his presence in the exam would not influence the process of reassessment, as reported by TOI.
