HC ruling favours law students: Minimum attendance not a bar to exams, says court

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu) : The Delhi High Court has stated that no law student can be barred from appearing in an examination on the grounds of lack of minimum attendance. The Delhi High Court issued these guidelines while disposing of a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) in the 2016 suicide case of Sushant Rohilla, a law student at Amity University.

Hearing the case on Monday, a Delhi High Court bench of Justices Pratibha M. Singh and Amit Sharma directed that no student be prevented from taking semester examinations and their progress to the next semester be blocked for lack of compulsory attendance. The High Court directed the Bar Council of India (BCI) to amend the compulsory attendance rules.

During the hearing, the Delhi High Court said that strict attendance rules should not lead to mental stress and suicide among students. The loss of a young life cannot come at the cost of compulsory attendance rules. The High Court also remarked that instead of preventing students from appearing in exams, it is necessary to explore less stringent rules. The court said that the formation of a Grievance Redressal Commission (GRC) will be mandatory for all law colleges, educational institutions, and universities. The University Grants Commission (UGC) will have to amend its regulations to ensure that 51 percent of the GRC members are students.

The bench directed that attendance of students should be informed to the students and their parents and additional physical or online classes should be conducted for those students who have low attendance.

Sushant Rohilla, a student at Amity Law School, committed suicide at his home in Sarojini Nagar, Delhi, on August 10, 2016. He alleged that the institute and certain members of the school harassed him due to poor attendance. He was forced to repeat an entire academic year in his BA LLB course, which allegedly led to his suicide.