Maharaja's College: Principal refutes conspiracy claims, blames tech system error

The mark list issue of Maharaja's College in Kerala took another turn with the Students' Federation of India (SFI) leader PM Arsho alleging a conspiracy and saying that he never registered for the third-semester examination. Following the revelations, the college recanted its earlier statement rubbishing Arsho's claims and blamed a technical glitch in the NIC software for the entire mess. Even as clarity on the issue is yet to be arrived at, the Kerala Students Union (KSU) agitation seeking an investigation into the matter turned violent with the police detaining the leaders of the student's organisation, stated in a report by The New Indian Express.

SFI leader calls it a hoax

The protests were organised after the SFI leader PM Arsho alleged a conspiracy, saying that he never registered for the third-semester examination. Following the revelations, the college recanted its earlier statement rubbishing Arsho's claims and blamed a technical glitch in the NIC software for the entire chaos.

PM Arsho, in a Facebook post, had debunked the allegations made by Principal VS Joy. He had come out strongly against the principal's claims that he had registered for the third-semester examination. "I hadn't even submitted the fees for registration. All this can be verified by looking into the account books," he said.

He alleged that a few people with vested interests are trying to drag him into a controversy. Arsho alleged that the timing of the mark list incident is suspicious. "SFI had been going full steam ahead with its agitation in the Amal Jyothi College of Engineering student's death. And I feel that the mark list issue has been trumped up just to scuttle the agitation," he said.

Principal blames tech glitches

Meanwhile, the college principal said the entire issue happened due to a technical error caused by the software. "We are not saying that Arsho is wrong. When it was pointed out to us by the students that Arsho had applied for readmission in the fourth semester and that he had not submitted the fees for the third-semester examination, we took a look again into the matter and inspected the documents including the account books. It came to light that he had indeed taken readmission in the fourth semester," said the principal.

According to the principal, Arsho's name exists among the list of students who had registered for the third-semester examination in the system. He said, "An investigation will be conducted into the controversy. More information regarding the matter can be shared only after the investigation." He said this was not an isolated issue. "The same had happened in the case of other students too," he added.

He is of the notion that all these mistakes have been due to a technical error in the NIC software. According to him, a report regarding this has been submitted to the Director of Higher Education. "We have been facing similar problems earlier too and had notified the matter NIC. However, it is yet to be rectified," he added.

Meanwhile, KSU held a protest march and agitation at the college gate seeking the dismissal of the controller of examination and a thorough investigation into the matter.