DU agrees in HC to declare results of students with short attendance

The Delhi University today agreed before the Delhi High Court to declare within three days the results of law students who were allowed to sit for their semester exams on court orders despite shortage of attendance.

The undertaking is applicable only for those students who had approached the court, the varsity made it clear.

The university also consented that those students who have failed in the exams would be given one more opportunity to appear in the forthcoming supplementary exams and their results would be declared thereafter.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao said it was of the considered view that the undertaking given by the university, regarding those students who approached the high court, meets the ends of justice.

The court was hearing the appeals of Delhi University against a single judge order asking the law faculty members to conduct at least 139 hours of extra classes or tutorials for those students who are desirous to attend the lectures to make up for attendance shortage.

Regarding the interpretation of Rule 10 (on 30 hours of classes each week) of Bar Council of India Rules and other legal principles canvassed in the appeals, the bench said it would consider and decide the appeals after hearing the parties.

It, however, made it clear that this order shall not be treated as a precedent and it has been passed in the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case and based on the undertaking and concession given by the varsity.

The bench said no further petitions or any other grievance on this issue would be entertained either by the university or the court.

The court listed the matter for further hearing on November 15.

In pursuance to court's earlier suggestion, senior advocate Arvind Nigam, appearing for the varsity and law faculty, today said they were willing to resolve the issue keeping in view the interest of the students.

The students, represented by senior advocate Kirti Uppal and advocates Himanshu Dhuper and Samarendra Kumar, had earlier argued that the law faculty was in contempt of the high court's direction to conduct the classes.

The single judge had come down heavily on DU for "illegally" detaining around 500 students for lack of attendance and ordered holding of supplementary exams, saying it was a "failure" of the law faculty.

In its appeal, the varsity has contended that the single judge in the July 6 order had ignored the fact that all the three law centres had completed the course within the total number of lectures held.

The university has contended in the appeal that the single judge had "over-stressed" the rule that 450 class hours have to be conducted irrespective of the fact that the syllabus for all the subjects for the respective semesters was already completed as planned.

The single judge, while granting relief to law students, had said the shortfall of attendance was caused due to "failure of faculty of law to conduct minimum classes as prescribed under the Bar Council of India rules".

The court had passed a slew of directions and directed law faculty members to conduct, within eight weeks, at least 139 hours of extra classes/tutorials for students who are desirous to attend lectures to make up for the shortage of attendance.

The court had issued the directions while disposing 21 separate petitions filed by 53 students, challenging the memorandum issued by the law faculty on May 7 and May 8 and May 10, detaining several students of fourth and sixth semesters from appearing in exams for not having an aggregate attendance of 70 per cent in the semesters, as required by the BCI Rules.

As an interim relief, the high court had ordered that the students, who have approached the court after being detained by the DU due to lack of attendance, be allowed to sit for their examinations subject to final outcome of the petitions.