Madras University told to pay up

Chennai: Judith P. Pohlong, a postgraduate student from Meghalaya, has taken the Madras University to court for not returning her original certificates at the end of the course.

She said the head of the department was unwilling to return her certificate as she had some personal grudge against her. However, in court the university said they may have “lost” the papers.

The court on Wednesday directed the university  to provide a written letter regarding the “misplaced” documents and pay '10,000 as compensation to the student. Judith joined the biotechnology department in Guindy campus in 2013 when she submitted her original certificates. On completing the course in April 2015, the department refused to return her certificates as well as that of four other students. She filed a petition before the court in July.

According to Judith, the university told all affected students that the original documents had been sent to the Chepauk campus and had not been returned to the department.

“It was only after several complaints that they realised that the original documents were not with the department. No assurance was given to us that the department would return our certificates,” she said.

“No written statement was given to us to prove that the original documents are lost without which we can’t apply for duplicate copies.” She added that because of this reason she was unable to go home or apply for jobs. “ I also went to the Chief Minister’s cell, Director of Education and also represented to the Meghalaya Governor. But no action was taken.

Prem Rajkumari, advocate for Judith, said in her petition she also mentioned that the majority of the students were given very less marks, around 50 to 55 in their final project. She also said the court ordered the university that a letter should be given to the students within a week  stating that the certificates had been lost and conduct re-evaluation of the final project within two weeks.  

University Registrar, David P. Jawahar, said according to the main campus record, the verification was done and the certificates were returned to the department. “We tried to tell her that such things have not happened. But she went to court and the petition was disposed of Wednesday. They asked us to pay Rs 10, 000 for her visit to Shillong where she can apply for fresh certificates because this delay is affecting her career,” he said. He said  there were four or five documents, which could have been lost. “A special committee has been formed to look into this problem,” he added.