The state is bound by the Constitution to promote the educational interests of the SC/ST communities - Madras HC to TA

Case: T Udhaykumar v. Union of India and ors.
Bench: Bench of Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Krishnakumar

Madras High Court recently ruled that the State is bound by the Constitution to protect Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) communities from social injustice and to promote their educational interests. 

The bench directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to award four marks to an SC student who chose not to attend/answer a multiple-choice question after realizing that the question was erroneous. 

The petitioner lost out on the minimum cut-off marks by just one mark. He contended that if he had been awarded the grace marks, he would have cleared the NEET exam.

According to counsel for NAT, the multiple choice question number 97 in the said exam was incorrect, as none of the choices provided was correct. In this case, NAT decided to award four grace marks only to examinees who had chosen an incorrect answer. Consequently, the petitioner was not awarded grace marks since he did not attempt the said question.

The counsel appearing for the petitioner argued that a student should not be punished for an error made by the authorities. Court agreed with this submission, adding that Article 46 of the Constitution mandates state protection of the interests of the downtrodden, particularly SC/STs.

The HC observed that the petitioner had made several representations to the NTA and had approached the Court without delay. Therefore, the bench ordered the NTA to award four grace marks to the petitioner and to revise its merit list to include his name.