A public university in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun has cancelled the examinations of two subjects over a suspected paper leak, officials said in an order.
An inquiry found that an external question paper setter in Veer Madho Singh Bhandari Uttarakhand Technical University (VMSB-UTU) Dehradun had allegedly shared questions with students before the examination.
The university has ordered fresh examinations for Machine Learning for Internet of Things (subject code IOTT004) and Electromagnetic Field Theory (subject code ECT043), which were conducted as part of the even-semester examinations for the 2025-26 academic session.
According to the university order, the decision followed a complaint concerning the examination of Machine Learning for Internet of Things.
The university subsequently constituted a high-level inquiry committee on the orders of the Vice-Chancellor, while Shivalik College of Engineering, Dehradun, where the concerned external paper setter was employed, also conducted an internal inquiry.
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The order said that the inquiry found that the external question paper setter, Ashish Kumar Gupta, Assistant Professor at Shivalik College of Engineering, Dehradun, had shared the same questions with students on the institute’s internal portal and WhatsApp before the examination.
The university described the alleged sharing of questions as a serious violation of the confidentiality, integrity and academic standards of its examination system.
The inquiry also found a strong possibility of similar discrepancies and a breach of confidentiality in the question paper for Electromagnetic Field Theory, which had also been prepared by Gupta.
“Keeping the credibility, purity and student interest of the examination system paramount,” the university said it had cancelled both examinations with immediate effect.
The re-examinations for the two subjects are scheduled to be held in the third week of August 2026. The detailed date sheet and examination centre list will be released separately on the university’s official website, the order said.
The university has directed affiliated institutions to immediately inform all students concerned about the cancellation and re-examination so that they have sufficient time to prepare. The institutions have also been asked to upload the order on their respective websites for the benefit of students. The university has also barred Ashish Kumar Gupta, Assistant Professor at Shivalik College of Engineering, Dehradun, from undertaking any examination-related work for the university for seven years, with immediate effect.
The university also issued a strong warning to Shivalik College of Engineering, Dehradun, for allegedly failing to maintain adequate monitoring and control mechanisms at the institutional level. It directed the institute to ensure that its faculty members adhere strictly to the confidentiality and integrity requirement of the examination system to prevent any recurrence.
