Eligibility for examination is contingent upon completion of the minimum time period i.e. a full academic year as per the University's Ordinance.

JUDGMENT :

D.N. PATEL, J.

Proceedings have been conducted through video conferencing.

1. The Appellant herein assails the judgment dated 28.07.2021 passed by the learned Single Judge in W.P. (C) No. 7150/2021, whereby the writ petition was dismissed on the ground that the Appellant is not eligible to appear in the third-year examination scheduled to be held in August, 2020 on account of his belated registration for the third year in January, 2021.

2. The Appellant was enrolled as a student in the B.A. Programme in Indira Gandhi National Open University/Respondents in 2018. As per the case set out by the Appellant, in June, 2019, the Appellant filled the examination form for the first year but could not appear in the written examination scheduled in June, 2019, on account of some personal difficulty. Between March to July, 2019, Respondents informed the students for Re-registration process for the second year and accordingly, the Appellant deposited the Re-registration fee and the registration started for the second year. In March, 2020, Appellant filled the examination form on due dates for both the first and the second year, to be held in June, 2020 and also submitted all the assignments.

3. On 11.03.2020, Covid-19 was declared as a Pandemic and on 24.03.2020, a nationwide lockdown was declared, which continued till 31.05.2020. Ultimately, the Appellant took the first-year examination only in February-March, 2021 on account of the postponement of the exams due to Covid-19 Pandemic. As far as the second-year examinations are concerned, they were not held in June, 2020 and the students were promoted to the third year pursuant to a Notification of the University dated 10.12.2020.

4. The Appellant registered for third year course in January, 2021. The Respondents issued a Notification dated 09.07.2021, scheduling the examination for the final/end-semester, students in August, 2021 and the students were required to register for the same between 17.05.2021 and 12.07.2021. Appellant was informed on 14.07.2021 that registration for the final year examination to be held in August, 2021 was closed and that he would be eligible to appear only in December, 2021. Feeling aggrieved, the Appellant filed a writ petition seeking a direction to the Respondents to accept the Appellant’s third year Re-registration from July, 2020 instead from January, 2020 and allow him to fill the examination form for the examination scheduled in August, 2021.

5. The learned Single Judge, vide the impugned judgment, dismissed the writ petition primarily on the ground that the period of enrolment in each year of the B.A. Programme is one year, which the Appellant had not completed till August, 2021 and none of the stipulations in the Ordinance to that effect had been challenged. Learned Single Judge did not find force in the reasons put forth by the Appellant for failure to re-register i.e. the Appellant tried several times to fill the online examination form, but his third year courses were not shown on the online portal and he was, thus, unable to register.

6. Learned counsel for the Appellant impugns the judgment of the learned Single Judge and contends that the learned Single Judge failed to take into consideration that the Appellant had tried his best to access the online portal for admission to final year (June-TEE) Exam, 2021, but was unable to register as the choice of his subjects for the B.A. Programme was not displayed on the selection option on the portal. Thus, the non-registration was on account of a technical lapse of the University’s portal.

7. It is further contended that the admission to the B.A. Programme for three years had been taken by the Appellant in the year 2018 and the Re-registration procedure was a mere formality for depositing fee. It is also submitted that the admission and subsequent Re-registration of the Appellant is governed by the Prospectus issued by Respondent No. 1 in the year 2018 and not the one issued in 2021, upon which the lear