Judgment

MUKHERJEA, J. :- This appeal by special leave from an order of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh dismissing a writ petition of the appellant concerns a young college boy who is now in the unhappy position where at least two years of his academic life are found to have been wasted in very unfortunate circumstances. The short facts of the case are as follows.

2. The appellant-petitioner (hereinafter described merely as petitioner ) passed the Class X examination in 1970 from Bishop Cotton School. Simla. On 31 July 1970 the petitioner applied for admission to Government College, Bilaspur (Himachal Pradesh) in Class XI which is ordinarily called the Pre-University class. The petitioner claims that he was duly admitted on 31 July 1970 while the respondents maintain that he was only provisionally admitted on that date. The following notes and endorsements appear on the admission form of the petitioner submitted by him for admission to the Pre-University class:

"Since the candidate has not submitted the required documents as per letter attached by 15-8-70 and as such his admission may be cancelled.

Sd/- initiated.

14-8-70.

Yes.

Initiated. 14-8-70

Admit provisionally

subject to documents.

Initialled."

Nothing turns on this controversy for, in any case, it is quite clear that the petitioner was in law under an obligation to produce the eligibility certificate and the Inter-University Migration Certificate before he could be lawfully admitted to the Bilaspur College. It appears that on 12 August 1970 the petitioner was formally asked to produce the above-mentioned documents and was told that failing such production his admission was to be treated as cancelled. The documents were furnished only on 13 October 1970. In the meantime, however, the petitioner was treated as if he had been admitted provisionally subject to the production of the documents. On 24 December 1970 the petitioner migrated to Government College, Dharamsala. He had the necessary permission of the University for this migration. The petitioner complains that just one day before he was to sit for the Pre-University examination, the Principal of Government College, Dharamsala informed his father over the telephone that the petitioner had not attended the requisite number of classes while he was at Bilaspur College. On the same day the petitioner filed an affidavit to the effect that he had attended all the classes regularly at Bilaspur and that he was "not falling short of lectures in English, Economics, History and Civics". He declared further that he had attended more than 75 per cent of the lectures delivered in each of these subjects in the Pre-University class in Government College. Bilaspur until he migrated to Government College, Dharamsala. Presumably on the basis of this affidavit the petitioner was allowed to sit for the Pre-University examination which commenced on 20 April 1971. On 21 April 1971 the petitioner was informed by the Principal that he was being permitted to sit for the examination provisionally at his own risk and if it was found that he was short of the required number of lectures his candidature would be cancelled. The Principal of Dharamsala College on the same day wrote a letter to the Principal of Bilaspur College asking for a lecture statement in respect of the petitioner. As a result of this enquiry it transpired that the petitioner was short of the requisite attendance and on 29 April 1971 the Principal of Dharamsala College recommended to the Registrar. Himachal Pradesh University that the candiature of the petitioner should be cancelled and the results obtained by him in the examination to which he had been provisionally admitted were to be quashed. Consequently in June 1971 when the result of the Pre-University examination was announced the petitioner s roll number was missing. In July 1971 the petitioner was admitted provisionally to the B. A. Part I class in a college at Simla. The petitioner and also his father thereafter approached s