Maternity leave cannot be considered for relaxation of attendance in professional courses like LL.B, as per Rule 12 of Rules of Legal Education of the Bar Council of India and previous court decisions.

REKHA PALLI, J.

1. Vide the present petition, the petitioner, who is a second year student of the LL.B course of Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, has sought a direction to the respondent to permit her to appear in the IVth semester LL.B Examination being conducted w.e.f. 16.05.2018.

2. The facts as emerge from the record are that the petitioner’s marriage was solemnised on 05.03.2016, whereafter she had obtained admission in the three year LL.B Course in Law Centre II, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi in August, 2016.

3. It is the petitioner’s case that while she was undergoing the IVth semester, she gave birth to a baby boy on 22.02.2018. It is stated that despite her pregnancy, the petitioner had been regularly attending classes in the IIIrd semester, which is evident from the fact that her attendance in the third semester was 86%.

4. It further emerges that due to the advanced stage of her pregnancy and the birth of her baby boy in February 2018, the petitioner could not attend classes for a substantial duration of the IVth semester, which were held between 18.01.2018 and 03.05.2018.

5. In these circumstances, when the list of detained students was issued by the respondent on 11.05.2018, the petitioner learnt that her attendance was only 49.19% as against the mandatory attendance of 70% prescribed for every semester of LL.B. course under Rule 12 of Rules of Legal Education of the Bar Council of India.

6. Ms. Reena Singh, learned counsel for the petitioner, submits that the petitioner is a diligent student, who had been attending her classes regularly and it is only due to the various health issues faced by her during her pregnancy and birth of her child, that she was unable to attend classes in the IVth semester.

Ms. Singh relies on Rule 2 (9) (d) of Ordinance VII of Chapter III of Delhi University, in support of her contention that a married woman, who remains on maternity leave, is entitled to the benefit of relaxation in attendance for the said period, while calculation of her attendance. She, thus, contends that in such circumstances the petitioner, who had admittedly given birth to a baby boy in February 2018, ought to be granted relaxation and shall be permitted to appear in the exams, which are beginning on 16.05.2018.

The relevant extract of the aforesaid Rule, reads as under:-

“In the case of a married woman student who is granted maternity leave, in calculating the total number of lectures delivered in the College or in the University, as the case may be, for her course of study in each academic year, the number of lectures in each subject delivered during the period of her maternity leave shall not be taken into account:"

7. On the other hand, Mr. Mohinder J.S Rupal, who appears on advance notice for the respondent, opposes the present petition by contending that, since the LL.B Degree Course is a professional course, it mandates regular attendance of lectures. He submits that this Court has consistently held that the students who do not attend the stipulated percentage of lectures, are not eligible for enrolment as members of the Bar Council of India and, therefore, the respondent was justified in detaining the petitioner in the IVth semester.

8. Mr. Rupal places reliance on Rule 12 of the Rules of Legal Education of the Bar Council of India and contends that the relaxation sought by the petitioner cannot be granted. He also places reliance on decisions of this Court in University of Delhi & Anr. v. Vandana Kandari & Anr., LPA 662/2010 and Sukriti Upadhyay v. University of Delhi, LPA 539/2010. For the sake of ready reference, Rule 12 of Rules of Legal Education of the Bar Council of India is reproduced hereinbelow:-

"12. End Semester Test

No student of any of the degree program shall be allowed to take the end semester test in a subject if the student concerned has not attended minimum of 70% of the classes held in the subject concerned as also the moot court room exercises, tutorials and practical training