A university cannot deny a student the right to continue studies or withhold examination results based on procedural failures, especially after allowing the student to attend classes and take exams.

JUDGMENT

The petitioner's case

1. The petitioner enrolled on 21 October 2022 as a student to the B.A. (Hons.), a four year course in the Kalindi College for Women, Delhi University (DU).

2. It is asserted, in the present writ petition, that the petitioner filled in the application form for undertaking her first semester examination in February 2023 and deposited requisite fees. However, as there was a failure in the transaction for payment of fees, no admit card was issued to the petitioner so as to enable her to undertake the first semester examination.

3. It is sought to be contended that, despite having not undertaken the first semester examination, the petitioner was assured, by the relevant authorities, that she could undertake the first semester examination along with her third semester examination without any complications.

4. Based on this assurance, the petitioner attended the second semester classes in the Kalindi College.

5. On 11 June 2023, the petitioner deposited the fees of her second semester examination, consequent to which an admit card was issued to her by the DU enabling her to attempt the second semester examinations, on 10 October 2023. Accordingly, the petitioner undertook the second semester examination from 18 July 2023 onwards.

6. The University did not release the result of the second semester examinations of the petitioner. The petitioner, nonetheless, attended the classes of the third semester of the BA (Hons) English course, which commenced from 16 August 2023.

7. Fees for the second year of her B.A. (Hons.) English course (consisting of the third and fourth semesters) were also deposited by the petitioner.

8. The petitioner was not permitted to fill in the examination form to undertake her third semester examination.

9. Numerous attempts to interact with the University authorities in this regard met with no favourable response.

10. It is in these circumstances that the petitioner has instituted the present writ petition before this Court, seeking issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the respondent

(i) to declare her second semester result,

(ii) to allow the petitioner to attend her third semester examination and

(iii) to allow the petitioner to continue with the second year of her B.A. (Hons.) course, without losing any academic year or the progress made thus far.

11. Counter affidavits have been filed by the University as well as by the college, and a rejoinder has also been filed by the petitioner to the counter affidavit of the college, though no rejoinder has been filed to the counter affidavit of the University.

Stand of the College in its counter-affidavit

12. The counter affidavit filed by the college points out that, as per Clause 4[4. A student who appears in an odd-semester examination or who was eligible to appear in the odd-semester examinations but remains absent in any or all of the papers of the said semester, shall move on to the next semester irrespective of his/her result in the said examinations provided examination form for both the odd and even semester examination is duly submitted and requisite fee paid by the candidate.] of the NEP-UGCF 2002 Guidelines dated 6 March 2023, applicable to the DU, a student who had not submitted the examination form for any particular semester could not be promoted to the next semester. Accordingly, the petitioner could not have attended any classes in the second semester. Without thus attending any second semester class, avers the counter affidavit of the college, the petitioner deposited, online, the examination form for her second semester examinations, scheduled to be held in May/June 2023. She also appeared in the said examination. It was later that the DU realised that the petitioner had actually not been promoted to the second semester, whereupon her results were withheld.

13. It is further averred, in the counter affidavit of the college, that the petitioner had again taken admission in the first semester of her B.A. (Hons.) English course in the 2