The Lahore High Court heard identical petitions by Journalism Department students, ruling that the action of the Punjab University concerning the matter of granting grace marks to the students by the Board of Studies amounted to contempt of court.
The university legal advisor told the court that the Higher Education Commission System under the court's directions had disallowed the grace marks in the Annual Examination System. He negated the petitioners' claim that the controller examination had ensured the students of additional marks.
He also said the matter was referred to the Board of Studies allowing 25 additional marks to the students sitting for that paper but admitted that the vice-chancellor denied the recommendations of the BoS and disallowed the implementation of the recommendations.
At this petitioners' counsel Sarfraz Ahmed Cheema said the students were not seeking grace marks which the SC had barred but these 25 numbers were their right as the paper was out of course. He said the BoS considering all aspects of the HEC and ruling of the SC, had recommended 25 numbers to each student.
The court adjourned the case till September 4 as Cheema sought time to file his rejoinder in reply to the university.
In their petition Khurram Shahzad and others said they had sat for the development journalism paper-III but boycotted the paper since most of the questions were out of course.