HC allows ILS Law College students with attendance shortage to appear for exams

A division bench of justices RI Chagla and Farhan P Dubhash granted ILS Law College, affiliated to the Savitribai Phule Pune University, four weeks to hold supplementary examinations for students who could not appear for them earlie

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Monday held that all students of Pune’s ILS Law College who were prevented from appearing for their semester-end examinations in May-June solely because of an attendance shortage were entitled to a one-time protection, as granted by the Supreme Court to Delhi University students recently.

Pune, India - June 18, 2019: ILS Law college campus in Pune, India, on Tuesday, June 18, 2019. (Photo by Sanket Wankhade/HT PHOTO)

A division bench of justices RI Chagla and Farhan P Dubhash granted ILS Law College, affiliated to the Savitribai Phule Pune University, four weeks to hold supplementary examinations for students who could not appear for them earlier. It also clarified that students who cleared the exams should be allowed to pursue further studies.

Referring to the Supreme Court’s order in the Delhi University case, dated July 21, the high court said that it “applies to all the petitioners before us, notwithstanding the shortfall in their attendance”.

The court was hearing a bunch of petitions filed by 41 students pursuing three-year and five-year courses at ILS Law College. The students had approached the high court after the college refused to allow them to appear for their semester-end examinations in May-June.

The students claimed they had submitted the examination forms and paid the requisite fees, but the college withheld their admit cards because their attendance ranged from 46% to 54.37% in the 2025-26 academic year.

The dispute was over what the minimum attendance threshold is and how much could be condoned. While the Savitribai Phule Pune University’s Ordinance 68 states that the minimum attendance is 75%, Ordinance 70 allows attendance shortage to be condoned by up to 20% in specified circumstances. Meanwhile, the Bar Council of India’s legal education rules prescribe 70% attendance.

The students argued that the applicable attendance threshold should effectively be 50% (70% minus 20%). However, ILS Law College argued that the effective threshold was 55% (75% minus 20%).

On Monday, the high court allowed the students’ pleas after noting that the Supreme Court had last month specifically ordered that law students who were not allowed to appear for examinations solely due to an attendance shortfall should be given a one-time opportunity, and those who could not take the tests fully or partially should be allowed to take a supplementary examination.

The high court held that the Supreme Court’s order, though pertaining to Delhi University students, was also applicable to ILS Law College students. The bench, therefore, directed the college to declare the results of the petitioners who appeared for the examination pursuant to interim court orders, and to hold a supplementary examination for those students who could not take the scheduled semester-end examinations.