Thiruvananthapuram: CPM state secretary M V Govindan on Wednesday defended the state secretary of the Students' Federation of India P M Arsho who landed in a controversy after Ernakulam's Maharaja's College declared that he had 'passed' the semester examination even though he secured 'zero' marks.
It later emerged that Arsho did not appear in any of the semester examinations. Govindan alleged the controversy was part of a conspiracy to defame SFI.
“The mark list is part of a conspiracy to defame CPM-affiliated student outfit. A probe must be initiated to identify the people behind it. CPM welcomes any investigation into the incident," said Govindan. He condemned the media for reporting the news without verifying facts.
CPM leader A Vijayaraghavan claimed that a technical error caused the flaw in the mark list. He criticised the media for sensationalising the issue.
Meanwhile, Arsho clarified that he did not write any of the four papers in the third semester MA Archaeology examinations. "I wasn't in Ernakulam during the exam days. I had no permission to enter the district owing to a case," he said.
Arsho said he does not know why the results showed that he had passed the exams.
"I have not given anybody the responsibility to ensure that I pass exams that haven't been attempted. It needs to be checked whether the mix-up was a technical error or deliberate one," said Arsho.
He also said that there should be an investigation into the conspiracy inside the college campus regarding this incident.
The controversial exam results were published in March. In Arsho's third-semester archaeology mark list, 'zero' marks were recorded as 'passed'.
KSU activists staged a protest in front of the principal's office demanding clarity on the issue.
The college has withdrawn the results following the controversy.