Court ruled that educational institutions must act fairly and acknowledge students' legitimate expectations, particularly after allowing them to participate in examinations despite procedural discrepancies.

JUDGMENT

Sanjeev Narula, J. (Oral)

CM APPL. 31306/2022 (for interim directions)

1. By way of this application, interim directions are sought for declaration of results of the Petitioner as per order of this Court dated 4th April, 2022. During the course of submissions, counsel for the parties agreed that instead of the present application, the main petition itself be heard and decided. Accordingly, with the consent of both counsel, the court proceeded to hear the main petition, today itself.

W.P.(C) 3409/2021

2. Before adverting to the question that arises for consideration, a brief narration of facts would be apposite. Petitioner enrolled for the three-year B.A. (H) Urdu course (morning shift) [hereinafter the `course'] in Respondent No.1 - Satyawati College [hereinafter the `College'], which has two semesters each year, totalling to six semesters.

3. In November/December, 2018, she appeared for her first semester examinations, wherein, as per the results declared by Respondent No. 2 - University of Delhi [hereinafter the `University'], she cleared three out of four subjects and failed in one. Thereafter, she neither filled up the form, nor appeared in the second semester examinations held in May/June 2019. It is contended that she was unable to take her second semester examination as she was pregnant.

4. She attended classes for the third, fourth and fifth semester and appeared for the examination for the same, yet her results for third and fifth semesters were not declared. As regards the fourth semester, at that point of time, due to the pandemic, the University was promoting students on the basis of internal assignments submitted by them, and thus, she was duly promoted.

5. In this background, the Petitioner approached this Court as a sixth semester student, praying that her name be restored to the attendance list of sixth semester; she be allowed to submit internal assignments; be allowed to sit for the final sixth semester examinations as well as second semester examinations; and that her marksheets for the third and fifth semester be released. She is also aggrieved by the marksheet issued by the University at the end of 1st year of her course on 17th December, 2020, wherein she was declared to have failed the paper "English - A" in first semester, which, she contends, she had retaken along with her third semester examination, the result of which has also been withheld.

6. Both the University as well as the College filed their counter affidavits and strongly opposed the relief sought.

7. In the counter affidavit of Respondent No. 2, it has been contended that the Petitioner has rightly been declared to have failed as per the applicable rules. The Petitioner was not eligible to be admitted in the third semester and has to be readmitted to the first year of the course. Reliance is placed upon Notification No. Acad.-I/Semester/2011/368 dated 03rd January 2012 read with Notification No. Acad-I/Semester/2011 dated 07th September 2011. The relevant extract of Notification No. Acad.-I/Semester/2011/368, dated 03rd January 2012 is reproduced as follows:

"(...) it is further clarified that the students who are detained from appearing in any semester examination of any Under-graduate/Post-graduate course, due to shortage of attendance or for any other reason, will not be eligible for promotion to the next semester and will have to be re-admitted in the next academic session to the same semester of the course in which they were detained."

8. Mr. Ankur Chhibber, counsel for Respondent No. 2, argues that since the Petitioner did not appear in the second semester examination in May/June, 2019, she was ineligible to be admitted directly to the third semester. He further contends that as per the ordinance of the University, a student is eligible for promotion from the first year to the second year only if he/she has passed at least fifty percent of the papers of the first year. Since the Petitioner has failed to do so,