REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CIVIL  APPEAL No.11230   OF 2018 (Arising out of SLP (C) No.18525 of 2018)

The Central Board of Secondary Education  and Anr.                                               ...Appellants

Versus T.K. Rangarajan and Ors.  …Respondents

WITH

CIVIL  APPEAL No.11232    OF 2018  SLP(C) No.19374/2018

WITH CIVIL  APPEAL No.11237   OF 2018

SLP(C) No. 19382/2018 WITH

CIVIL  APPEAL No.11234   OF 2018 SLP(C) No. 19377/2018

WITH CIVIL  APPEAL No.11241   OF 2018

SLP(C) No. 19388/2018 WITH

CIVIL  APPEAL No.11236   OF 2018 SLP(C) No. 19379/2018

WITH CIVIL  APPEAL No.11239   OF 2018

SLP(C) No. 19385/2018 WITH

CIVIL  APPEAL No.11235    OF 2018 SLP(C) No. 19378/2018

WITH CIVIL  APPEAL No.11240   OF 2018

SLP(C) No. 19387/2018 WITH

CIVIL  APPEAL No.11238   OF 2018 SLP(C) No. 19383/2018

WITH CIVIL  APPEAL No.11233   OF 2018

SLP(C) No. 19376/2018

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WITH CIVIL  APPEAL No.11231    OF 2018

SLP(C) No. 19372/2018 WITH

CIVIL  APPEAL No.11242    OF 2018 SLP(C) No. 20507/2018

J U D G M E N T  

S.A. BOBDE, J.

1. Leave granted. 2. One  of  these  appeals  is  preferred  by  the  Central  Board  of

Secondary Education (CBSE) and the rest are filed by students who

have appeared in National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-UG (for short

‘NEET-UG’),  2018 and have taken the exam in English.  This test is

conducted  according  to  the  regulations  framed  under  the  Indian

Medical Council Act, 1956 and the Dentists Act, 1948. 3. The  questions  in  the  NEET-UG,  2018  paper  consists  of  180

objective  type  questions.   Bi-lingual  questions  were  set  for  this

examination  in  English  with  an  option  of  an  additional  regional

language.  The correct answer to the questions presented in the exam

is one of  the four options offered for each question.   Each correct

answer carries four marks and each incorrect answer results in the

deduction of one mark.   4.  In  a  writ  petition  filed  by  the  students,  who  had  taken  the

examination in  the regional  language of  Tamil.   The High Court  of

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Madras noticed certain mistranslations in the Tamil  version for  the

questions and answers in 49 questions.  The High Court decided that

nearly 24,000 students who took the examination in Tamil are entitled

to four grace marks for each incorrectly translated question therefore,

each of these students are entitled to a total of 196 grace marks, (i.e.,

49 x 4).  5. The result is obviously an unprecedented awarding of marks to a

certain section of students who opted for the examination in Tamil,

thus securing them higher marks than all the other type of students

irrespective  of  their  actual  performance  in  the  examination.   The

problem arises because of the bi-lingual system of the examination.  6. Out  of  13,23,672  lakh  students,  who  appeared  for  the

examination,  approximately  10.5  lakh  took  it  in  English,

approximately  1.5  lakh  opted  for  regional  languages  and  of  these

about  nearly  24,000  candidates  took  the  examination  in  Tamil

language.   7. The dispute in the present case concerns these 24,000 students

only who have been benefited by the High Court’s order and have

been awarded 4 marks for the 49 questions each irrespective of their

actual answers. 8. The  genesis  is  as  follows  –  Owing  to  nation  wide  increasing

demand that the NEET examination should also have the option of a

regional  language,  the  CBSE  introduced  question  papers  in  13

languages, i.e. English and 12 regional languages.  In the year 2017-

18, apparently, two sets of questions papers were set. One in English

and  the  other  in  the  regional  languages.   This  examination  was

challenged since it  was believed that the objective of the common

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entrance test cannot  be fulfilled if  the questions are different.  The

matter came up before this Court.   The CBSE justified the method

adopted by it as the principle of equivalent difficulty.  This Court in

Writ  Petition  (C)  No.390  of  2017  vide  order  dated  25.01.2018

observed as follows: - “We  are  disposed  to  think  that  it  would  be appropriate for CBSE the questions papers set in  English,  Hindi  or  any  other  regional languages  should  be  the  same.  It  shall facilitate the student’s community to choose the language they intend to adopt to answer the questions and in that event the principle of  uniformity  shall  be  appositely  maintained for all the categories of students.  When there is  appropriate  translation,  the  identity  and uniformity of the question papers will be in the realm  of  certainty.  We  have  been  apprised that it is difficult to translate certain areas in regional  languages  pertaining  to  medical terms. In such circumstances, it shall be within the domain of the experts to use the medical terms as they are.”  

This  would  help  the  students  to  choose the  language

they adopt for answering the questions and there would be

uniformity for all categories of students, i.e., those opting to

answer in English and those opting to answer in a regional

language.  In turn, the CBSE decided and stated before this

Court that the pattern of the NEET-UG, 2018 examination as

regards to language would be as follows:- “(c) Language of the Question Papers.

i. Candidates can opt for question Papers in either of the following languages: ENGLISH  HINDI  ASSAMESE  BENGALI  GUJARATI KANADA  MARATHI   ORIYA  TAMIL  TELUGU  URDU  

ii.  Option  of  medium of  Question  Paper  will  be exercised while filing in the application form. The

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option  once  exercised  by  candidates  cannot  be changed later.

iii  Candidates  opting  for  English  would  be provided Test Booklet in English only.

iv Candidates opting for Hindi would be provided Bilingual Test Booklet i.e. in Hindi and in English.

v.  Candidates  opting  for  vernacular  languages would  be  provided  Bilingual  Test  Booklet  i.e.  in selected language and in English.

vi. In case of any ambiguity in translation of any of  the  questions,  its  English  version  shall  be treated as final.”

9. Instruction (vi) above, assumes significance in this case.

This instruction was also incorporated in the hall ticket which

allowed admission to the examination hall to ensure that it is

not missed.   10. The main grievance of the Petitioners before the High

Court seems to have been that the Tamil  translation of  the

English questions misled them. As the translation did not have

the same meaning as the English questions, since some of the

words  used  in  Tamil  were  not  accurately  translated  from

English.   This  led  to  incorrect  answers.  This  being  so,  the

Petitioners  prayed for  the  grant  of  ’Grace Marks’  to  all  the

students  who  gave  the  NEET-UG,  2018  Examination  in  the

Tamil  medium  for  all  49  questions  in  which  such  errors

occurred.   11. The High Court held that the 49 question in Tamil were

ambiguous  especially  in  respect  of  the  students  who  had

throughout studied in Tamil medium and had scant knowledge

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of  English.   The High Court  further  noted that  the  average

knowledge  of  English  even  for  one  who  has  studied  in  an

English Medium school is just about adequate.   12.  The Division Bench seems to have lost sight of the fact

that  the  students  appearing  for  the  NEET-UG,  2018

Examination applied for admission to the course of MBBS/BDS

which is entirely taught in English.  The facility of a bilingual

question paper was essentially  meant for  the students who

were more familiar  in  Tamil  than in  English.   Moreover,  the

expert  body  which  set  the  examination  seems  to  have

contemplated  the  difficulty  that  may  arise  in  translation  of

words from English to Tamil and had taken due precaution by

inserting instruction (vi) (supra) that required the students to

refer to the English version in case of any ambiguity.   This  implies  that  knowledge  of  the  subject  in  English

was considered a requirement and students were expected to

resolve any ambiguity by reference to the questions in English

Language.   We must  make note that  there is  no grievance

whatsoever that there was any difficulty about the questions

in English language.  13.   Some  of  the  examples  of  the  discrepancies  in

translation which occurred in the Tamil version, are as follows:

-  In the English version the students were asked to select the

incorrect  option  for  the  following  sets  of  examples  for

divergent evolution: -

(1) Forelimbs of man, bat and cheetah

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(2) Heart of bat, man and cheetah (3) Eye of octopus, bat and man (4) Brain of bat, man and cheetah

14.  If  one  has  a  look  at  actual  discrepancies  in  the

questions that were said to have created confusion, it seems

that the word with the imprecise meaning could have been

easily discovered to be faulty and a simple reference to the

English  version  would  have  clarified  the  same.   A  simple

reference to the context in which the imprecise word occur in

the Tamil version would show that the word could not have

that  meaning at  all  and there  was  obviously  some mistake

which  needed  to  be  resolved  by  reference  to  the  English

version. 15. According to the Respondent No. 1 in the Tamil version

the word  ‘Cheetah’ is translated as ‘Sita’.  Now it would be

obvious to apply the common sense that Sita, which is a name

of Goddess and used for human beings, cannot occur in the

example for divergent evolution that deals with man, bat and

cheetah etc.  This mistake in ‘Cheetah’ appearing as ‘Sita’ is

said  to  have  occurred  because  of  mispronunciation  of  the

word  ‘Chiruthaiyin’ as  ‘Seethavin’.   Similarly,  the  word

‘Octopus’ has been translated as ‘Aathadapuz’ which seems to

be the result of mispronunciation.  Likewise, it was pointed out

that in respect of translating ‘Ragam’ which means variety. In

Tamil  translation  was  ‘Nagam’ which  means  ‘Nail’.   We  do

agree  that  a  plain  reading,  sounds  absurd  but  it  would  be

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obvious to anyone that the word ‘Nail’ would make no sense

where the question deals with a new variety of rice which was

patented by a foreign company simply because there cannot

be a nail of rice.  The errors were not factual and could have

easily been answered by referring to the English Version.  16. We may not be understood to be taking the view that

mistakes  in  translation,  which  give  a  disparate  meaning,

should  be  allowed  to  appear  in  question  papers.   The

translation must be accurate. We are informed that from the

next  academic year 2019-20,  the NEET Examination will  be

conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), a society set

up  by  the  Government  of  India  with  the  objective  of

conducting examination for grant of admission etc.  The NTA is

established to ensure that the methodology of translation to

conduct  the  examination  is  improved.   In  order  to  make it

foolproof, it is proposed that the translation will  be done by

subject experts who are proficient in both the languages i.e.

the source language and the target language.   17. The translation will be done from the target language to

the source language and back to the target language.  Thus,

for example a question in English translated in Tamil will be re-

translated back to English.  This dual translation approach will

remove any chance of ambiguity  in  the question paper.   In

spite  of  this  safeguard,  it  is  proposed  that  in  case  of  any

ambiguity between a regional language and English it will the

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English version which will be final as held by this Court in the

order dated 25.01.2018 referred above.

We  find  this  last  mentioned  clause  is  extremely

significant  to  ensure  that  the  students  have  some  basic

knowledge of English even if they are allowed the facility to

write the examination in their regional language.  Presumably,

this  is  because  the  entire  education  for  MBBS/BDS  courses

throughout the country are taught in English.

18. Assuming that there was some justification in the plea

that  students  were  prevented  from  understanding  the

question and therefore could not answer properly, we find it

difficult  to  sustain  the  remedy provided  by  the  High Court.

The number of students that appeared in the NEET-UG, 2018

was  13,23,672,  approximately  10.5  lakh  took  it  in  English,

approximately  1.5 lakh opted for  regional  languages and of

these nearly 24,000 candidates took the examination in Tamil

language.  Because  of  a  mistake  in  translation  which  could

have been detected and avoided by the students, we find it

unjust  that  all  the students  across  the  board who took  the

examination in Tamil have been awarded four marks for all the

49 questions  without  any reference to  the  answer of  those

questions.   The  consequence  is  equally  unjust  and

unacceptable as the students  who gave the examination in

Tamil have been unduly benefited only because they opted to

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give  examination  in  Tamil.   It  is  said  that  there  are  some

students who might have otherwise failed but for the addition

of  marks  by  the  High  Court  most  of  these  students  have

scored higher than those who gave the examination in English

and other regional languages.  This is mainly due to the blind

allocation of 196 marks to every student who gave the exam

in Tamil.     19. In  Guru  Nanak  Dev  University  v.  Saumil  Garg and

others1,  in  somewhat similar  circumstances where  after  the

CBSE opined that 10 out of the 21 key answers were incorrect,

this  Court  called  for  a  report  from the CBSE and the Delhi

University  as  regards  correctness  of  those  10  answers  and

thereupon in order to preserve merit the Court directed the

University  to  re-evaluate  the  answers  to  the  aforesaid  8

questions with reference to key answers.

This  course  adopted  by  this  Court  was  to  prevent

arbitrariness in awarding marks.  We see no attempt in the

impugned  judgement  to  have  the  marks  evaluated  by  an

independent expert body instead the High Court resorted to

blind allocation of full marks for each of the questions.

In fact, in the Guru Nanak Dev University case (supra)

wherein this Court found that in respect of vague questions

which were incapable of correct answers, the University could

1 (2005) 13 SCC 749

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not have given credit for those questions to all the students,

irrespective if the said questions have been attempted or not.

Even so by the impugned judgment, the High Court has

made no attempt to see whether the students have in fact

attempted answers to the questions, which were claimed to be

imperfectly  translated and has  proceeded to  award  the  full

marks for 49 questions to all candidates who had opted to give

the examination in Tamil.  The method adopted by the High

Court  is  manifestly  arbitrary  and  unjustified  and  cannot  be

sustained.

20. The  list  of  students  who  opted  to  give  the  NEET-UG,

2018 Examination in Tamil after the addition of 196 marks is

startling.  For instance, a student who got 260 marks has been

awarded a  total  of  456  marks.   A  student  with  137 marks

becomes entitled to 333 marks and the student who got 92

marks becomes entitled to 288 marks.   Even students who

have 21 marks been entitled to 217 marks.  It is clear that the

High  Court  lost  sight  of  the  primary  duty  of  Court  in  such

matter that is to avoid arbitrary results. 21. The learned counsel  for  the Respondent  No.  1  placed

reliance on the judgment of this Court in  Kanpur University,

Through Vice Chancellor and Others v. Samir Gupta and Ors.2.

According to the learned counsel this Court in the above case

granted  marks  to  all  the  students  appearing  in  the

2 (1983) 4 SCC 309

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examination after finding an error in the answer key.    The

learned counsel  submits  that  the same approach should be

adopted  in  the  present  case.   That  case  was  decided  in

entirely  different  circumstances.   In  the  first  place,  the

examination then was not bi-lingual.  Moreover, the question

before this Court was called upon to decide whether a student

who answered the question correctly be failed for an answer

which  though  correct,  doesn’t  accord  with  the  key  answer

supplied by the University.   No such situation has arisen in the case before us.  This

is  not  a case wherein the students  claimed that  they have

been  failed  though  they  gave  the  correct  answer;  merely

because the  answer  key was  wrong.   The case is  that  the

student  couldn’t  answer  because the  question  was  wrongly

translated  from  English;  there  was  no  dispute  about  the

correctness of question in English.  In any case, in the Kanpur

case (supra) the relief granted to the students was the grant

of three marks for each of the questions answered correctly by

them  and  the  addition  of  one  mark  since  one  mark  was

wrongly deducted for the questions wrongly answered.  The

award  of  marks  by  the  Court  didn’t  result  in  granting  any

undue advantage to one section of students over the other

students.   22. For these reasons, we set aside the impugned judgment

of the High Court of Madras dated 10.07.2018.  We direct that

from the year 2019-20 onwards the NEET-UG Examination will

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be conducted by the National Testing Agency and the bilingual

examination  will  be  conducted  after  the  question  paper  is

translated  as  set  out  according  to  the  instructions  in  the

affidavit  dated  22.10.  2018  signed  by  Dr.  Vikas  Gupta,

Director, National Testing Agency as mentioned above.

23. Accordingly, the appeals are allowed.       

….………………………………..J.   [S.A. BOBDE]

….………………………………..J.         [L. NAGESWARA RAO]

NEW DELHI  NOVEMBER  22, 2018

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