Allow student injured in Bandra-Worli Sea Link accident to take exam: HC

A division bench of justice Gautam Patel and justice Neela Gokhale on Friday directed Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics (NMCCE) to allow the student, Siddharth Juyal, to appear for the exam and complete the exercise by July 10

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has come to the rescue of a student, who was not allowed to appear for his BCom first semester examination as he could not attend the college after getting seriously injured in an accident on Bandra-Worli Sea Link.

Allow student injured in Bandra-Worli Sea Link accident to take exam: HC

A division bench of justice Gautam Patel and justice Neela Gokhale on Friday directed Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics (NMCCE) to allow the student, Siddharth Juyal, to appear for the exam and complete the exercise by July 10.

Five people were killed and eight others, including Juyal, injured when a speeding four-wheeler crashed into stationary vehicles on Bandra-Worli Sea Link in the early hours of October 5 last year. The first year BCom student had suffered a grievous injury on his right leg because of which he could not attend the college for over a fortnight.

After Diwali vacations, Juyal started going to the college from November 7 and submitted medical certificates to justify his absence.

However, five days prior to the first semester examination, which was to start from December 15, he received an e-mail from the college, informing him that his average attendance was around 52%—much less than the required 75%. Juyal was asked to attend a hearing on December 12 when he again submitted his medical records to the college, but the same day he was informed that he was disqualified and would not be allowed to appear for the exam.

The student immediately filed an appeal, which remained pending even as the exam started. Though he was allowed to pursue his second semester, he received the next communication about his appeal only on January 14 this year.

The appeal, according to Juyal, was dismissed after two months and he took the matter to Mumbai University. The university on April 5 directed the college to immediately conduct the examination for the student, but in vain.

Juyal then moved the HC, seeking a direction to the college to conduct the exam for him.

The college, on the other hand, maintained that it was an autonomous institution and was thus free to set its own attendance norms.

The argument, however, failed to impress upon the bench. “Even if we accept the argument on autonomy, we are unable to appreciate how in a situation like this, the 3rd Respondent (college) can take such a rigid and so doctrinaire approach at the cost of the future of a young student,” the bench said.

“We are compelled to ask what the purpose and intent of the 3rd respondent is and whether this purpose is to educate students or to find new ways to obstruct them despite a student having suffered one of the most horrific and traumatic incidents,” the court added.