IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of Decision : January 23, 2026 SONIYA -PETITIONER V/S KURUKSHETRA UNIVERSITY, KURUKSHETRA AND ORS.

-RESPONDENTS CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KULDEEP TIWARI Present: Mr. Rajeshwar Singh, Advocate for the petitioner.

Mr. A.S. Virk, Advocate for the respondent No.1.

Mr. Balwinder Singh, Advocate for the respondent No.4.

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KULDEEP TIWARI, J. (ORAL)

1. Through the instant writ petition, the petitioner seeks issuance of a direction to the respondent No.1 (hereinafter referred to as “University”) to declare the result of her B.Com. course, which she claims to have successfully completed in the year 2016.

2. The averments recorded in the writ petition are that the petitioner passed her matriculation examination in the year 2010 from the respondent No.3- School and thereafter appeared in the Senior Secondary Examination in the year 2012. However, she could not clear the said examination and was placed under compartment in the subject of Economics. As per the prevailing norms, a student having a compartment is eligible to seek admission in the B.Com. First Year/Semester. Accordingly, in the year 2012, the petitioner applied for admission to the B.Com. course in the respondent No.4- College on the basis of her detailed mark-sheet, which explicitly reflected the compartment in Economics. She thereafter pursued the B.Com. course and claims to have successfully completed the same in the year 2016. However, the University did not declare her result, and she has been awaiting the declaration thereof since then. It is further averred that although the petitioner had not cleared her Senior Secondary Examination at the relevant time, she subsequently cleared the same in the year 2016, and therefore, there remains no justification for the University to withhold her B.Com. result.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that once the respondent No.4- College granted admission to the petitioner and permitted her to appear in all the examinations of the B.Com. course, for which the University itself issued Roll Numbers/Admit Cards, the University is estopped from withholding her result on the ground of ineligibility due to non-clearance of the Senior Secondary Examination at the relevant time. It is further submitted that there was no concealment or misrepresentation on the part of the petitioner at the time of admission, as she had duly disclosed her compartment in Economics in the Senior Secondary Examination.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner further submits that since the petitioner has already cleared her Senior Secondary Examination in the year 2016, there exists no legal impediment in declaring her B.Com. final result. It is, therefore, contended that the petitioner is fully eligible and entitled to the declaration of her result.

5. Per contra, learned counsel for the University submits that although the petitioner was granted provisional admission to the B.Com.

course despite having a compartment in Economics, such admission was governed by the provisions of the Ordinance- B.Com Examination (Under 10+2+3 Scheme) (Semester System), which mandates clearance of the compartment prior to commencement of the First Semester examination. It is argued that, as per the petitioner’s own averments, she cleared her Senior Secondary Examination only in the year 2016, and therefore, she cannot claim to have been validly registered as a regular B.Com. student in the year 2012 or to have completed the course in May/June 2015. Since she did not possess the requisite essential qualification prior to completion of the B.Com. course, she was disentitled to enrollment as a B.Com. student. The relevant provisions of the Ordinance are reproduced hereunder:- “ORDINANCE-BACHELOR OF COMMERCE (B.Com.)

EXAMINATION (Under 10+2+3 Scheme) (Semester System)

3.1 A candidate who has passed one of the following examinations with English as one of the subjects shall be eligible to join the First Semester of the B.Com. Cou