DU’s law faculty question paper repeated, officials call for probe

The first-year students of Delhi University’s Faculty of Law were in for a surprise on Wednesday when they found that the question paper they received for their Law of Contract paper was the same as the one given to another batch of students during the semester examination in December last year.

Neha Khatana, a first-year LLB student who was appearing for the online open-book examination for the first time, said students were confused when they saw the question paper on Wednesday. “We recognised the paper because we had come across it while practising the previous years’ question papers. Many students were confused if they had downloaded the wrong paper,” she said.

Khatana said she pointed out the issue to her teachers. “Our teachers too didn’t know about it till we pointed it out to them. They said they will look into the matter. I have done my undergraduate degree from DU but this has never happened that we have received the same paper,” she said.

The 100-mark question paper had six questions, of which students had to attempt any four. All the questions were exactly the same as the one in the question paper for the Law of Contract examination in December 2020.

University officials condemned the incident and demanded an inquiry into the same. J L Gupta, a member of Delhi University Court and a former executive council member, said, “This is a complete lapse on the part of the examination branch as either the paper has not been moderated or the moderation committee has failed to discharge its duty judiciously.” Gupta has demanded that an inquiry committee be instituted to probe the “grave lapse causing utter confusion among students.”

Dean (examinations) DS Rawat said the matter has not been brought to his attention so far. “We have not received any complaints in this matter so far. I will talk to the Faculty of Law dean and an appropriate decision will be taken on the basis of it.”

When questioned on the possibility of conducting the paper again, Rawat said, “If there is a mix-up, we will take appropriate decision at the university level.” Despite calls and messages, the Dean of Faculty of Law did not comment.