Bombay High Court Denies Exam Permission to Law Student Citing 3% Attendance
The Bombay High Court on Friday firmly rejected an urgent plea from a second-year law student at ILS Law College in Pune, who sought permission to appear for his fourth-semester examinations despite having a mere 3% attendance. The student had argued that his low attendance was due to a judicial internship with the High Court's Chief Justice, but the bench of Justices Riyaz Chagla and Advait Sethna dismissed his request for ad-interim relief.
Internship Argument Fails to Convince the Bench
During the hearing, the student's lawyer contended that the college had conducted only about 162 hours of lectures against a required 432 hours, and that the internship with the Chief Justice should justify condoning the attendance shortfall. However, the bench orally questioned this logic, asking, "So if they are at fault, you should also be?" The lawyer attempted to mathematically demonstrate how the student's plea for the necessary 75% attendance was valid, but the judges remained unconvinced.
The college counsel, SS Kanetkar, countered by stating that internships are compulsory only for students in the third to fifth years, not for second-year students. He also informed the court that a March 17 communication from the registrar, which had initially allowed the internship to be treated as academic attendance, had been withdrawn with immediate effect on March 25. The student's counsel claimed unawareness of this withdrawal.
Legal Precedents and College Regulations Cited
The student's lawyer cited a Delhi High Court judgment, arguing that if the student were in Delhi or a private university, he would have been allowed to appear for exams, thus alleging a violation of his fundamental right to equality. However, the Bombay High Court referred to its own January order involving another student from the same college who was denied relief with 45% attendance.
The court noted that as per Ordinance 70, the university can condone attendance shortages by a maximum of 20% for bona fide reasons, but a student must still attend at least 75% of lectures to keep the term. The law empowers the university's executive council to condone deficiencies only if the student has attended at least 55% of lectures in the whole year.
Court's Rationale and Future Proceedings
While the High Court acknowledged being aware of the Delhi HC ruling that prohibits detaining students from exams for lack of minimum attendance, it cited "peculiar circumstances" in this case. Earlier, on April 10, the court had extended the exam form deadline for the student, but on Friday, it declined to grant further relief, emphasizing the extremely low attendance of 3% in the fourth semester.
The bench stated it was "not inclined to grant any ad-interim relief" and has directed the university and other parties to file their replies within four weeks. The student may then submit a rejoinder, if any, with the matter scheduled for further hearing on May 5. This decision underscores the court's strict adherence to academic regulations, even in cases involving prestigious internships.
