Madras HC slams practice of awarding grace-marks to medical students
The Madras High Court has come down on the practice of awarding grace marks to medical students who fail to clear certain subjects. Dismissing a petition filed by a third-year MBBS student of a private college in Puducherry, seeking grace marks to clear the ophthalmology paper, Justice S Vaidyanathan, in a recent order, said citizens were taken for a ride by such practices.
Judge's statement on the grace marks
"If the students of ophthalmology were allowed to clear the paper with grace marks and if they were going to become doctors and perform surgeries, the patients would have to regain their eyesight only with the grace of the god," the judge said.
Petitioner failed twice in ophthalmology paper
The petitioner, who had failed twice in ophthalmology paper, had sought a direction to Pondicherry University to grant her three grace marks to enable her clear it. She had secured 29 marks in theory paper, instead of 32 required to pass. Noting that up to five grace marks could be granted to a student as per the university rules, she had prayed for relief.
