BENGALURU: A Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court set aside directions issued by a single judge that the answer scripts of writ petitioners, first-year MBBS students, be sent to an additional evaluator or third evaluator for fresh assessment by the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS).

The division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Poonacha passed the order on February 19, while allowing the appeal filed by RGUHS against the single-judge order dated July 30, 2025, in a batch of petitions filed by students pursuing first-year MBBS at RGUHS.

The division bench stated that directions issued by the single judge were essentially two-fold. First, the single judge had directed that providing key or model answers for descriptive questions be reconsidered by the Syndicate and Academic Council of the university.

Second, the answer scripts of the petitioners be sent to an additional evaluator for fresh assessment. Insofar as the first direction is concerned, the university has no grievance. The Syndicate and Academic Council have already considered the issue of providing key answers or model answers regarding the subjective examination, the Bench said.

The Bench further stated that the only remaining question to be examined is whether the single judge’s direction to forward the answer scripts of the petitioners for additional evaluation or fresh assessment is sustainable.

The manner in which the answer scripts are to be evaluated is covered by an “Ordinance/Notification Governing Central Assessment Programme (CAP)” for theory paper assessment of all Undergraduate Health Science Courses of the University.

There is no statutory provision for further revaluation of the answer scripts or for referring the matter to a third evaluator, the Bench observed.