The Madhya Pradesh High Court has sought response from the chancellor of the state-run MP Medical Science University based in Jabalpur on whether he possesses the power to grant one grace mark to a student, as per university’s statute.
The case stems from the plea of a student of the varsity-affiliated Gajra Raja Medical College in Gwalior, urging the court to intervene and assist him receive one grace mark so that he doesn’t have to lose an academic year, according to a TNN report.
On September 8, the division bench of Justice Vivek Agarwal and Justice A K Singh directed Additional Advocate General Jahanvi Pandit to ascertain from university’s chancellor whether there is a provision allowing one grace mark to the student “to save a year of an otherwise bright medical student.”
In his plea, MBBS student, Ramnaresh Kushwah, said he failed the first-year MBBS examination just by one mark. He is persistently attending the second-year classes but might not be permitted to appear in the exam because of one less mark in the first-year exam.
He said the chancellor of the university has an extraordinary jurisdiction under Clause 32 of the Madhya Pradesh Universities Common Ordinance No. 6 to grant grace marks in cases of such extraordinary hardships.
The court has now placed the case among 10 top cases for hearing today, September 15, 2026.
What MP HC Said In Earlier Case On Grace Marks, Rounding Off
In an earlier case before the MP High Court, a student of Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore, who had obtained 47.8% in his M.A. Political Science examination, urged for a round-off of his marks to 48% so that he could be awarded second division and be declared eligible for a Middle School Teacher post.
According to Indian Kanoon, the university contended that Ordinance No. 6 allowed the Kulpati to award one grace mark only when a candidate was falling short by one mark to pass or obtain a division; however, there was no provision for general rounding off of marks.
Because the student was two marks short of securing second division, the state HC dismissed his plea, ruling that the university could not be ordered to upgrade the division in absence of a rule allowing rounding off.