(Prayer: The Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, pleased to direct the respondents to permit the petitioner to write the Ninth Semester examinations scheduled to commence from 08.12.2025, along with the four arrear / detained papers carried forward from the 6th and 8th semesters, as per the examination schedule and publish the results.)

1. This Writ Petition is filed by N.Neeraja a final year student undergoing her Law course in Chettinad School of Law, Chengalpattu, which is under the auspices of the deemed to be university namely chettinad Academy of Research and Education.

2. The case of the petitioner is that the petitioner joined the Law course for the academic session 2021- 2026 and now she is in the final year in her 9th semester. While so, during the 6th semester in view of her pursuit of other academic activities including internship under an organisation called Pacta which is a firm that works in policy making and working with other learned Advocates who are in the field of policy making and law, she could not attend all the classes. Therefore, she was not permitted to write the examination and then the ensuing semester she did the compensatory class and then she fall sort of the attendance in respect of that semester and as such the matter kept on postponing and now she is in the 9th semester. Now the current subjects of Labour Law, Principles of Taxation Law, property law and Banking Law, she is going to write in this current semester. She has a backlog of nine papers, that is, Election Law, Family Law II, Company Law II, Victimology which is of the 6th semester and Privacy Law, Land Law, Health Laws, Moot Court, Drafting, Pleadings, Conveyancing of 9th semester. As far as the present semester is concerned, it is stated on behalf of the School of Law that she is again short of the mandatory 70% attendance. According to the student, her biometric shows more than 70% and if the biometric is strictly looked into that doesn't match the physical attendance register extract that is produced before the court. Even the physical attendance register extract is produced only in respect of two subjects and not in respect of the other three subjects.

3. I have heard the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner in detail.

4. The learned counsel took the court through the extraordinary academic performance of the student right from class X and the certificates that are given by the respective firms and the mentors. The some of the articles that are coauthored by the students are also attached along with the typed set of papers. I am of the view that the student is brilliant and one can see that she is in a position to self study for herself.

5. It is in this background, the learned counsel would also rely upon the judgement of the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court in the matter of in re: suicide committed by Sushant Rohilla, law student of I.P. University Vs. Respondent 2025 [ SCC Online Del 7920 ] where the Delhi High Court took into consideration the enormous stress and strain the students have these days and directed the Bar Council to revisit the policy relating to attendance and in the interregnum restrained the universities not to stop students from taking the examination for attendance shortage and suggested such other measures such as compensatory classes etc,.

6. I heard Mr.S.R.Raghunathan, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Bar Council of India. The learned counsel would point out to the provisions contained in the Bar Council of India Rules, including the definition of “Legal Education Committee” and would submit that the unique nature of legal education and the rules that are framed by the Bar Council of India is not considered by the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court. While there should be no two opinion that the process of insisting upon the attendance should not cause any trauma or undue stress on the students, at the same time, the rules were framed taking into account the various reasons that are prevalent throughout the country.

7. It is not the student like the petitioner alone who are taken into account, there were letter pad colleges which were collecting monies even for marking fake attendance and the students who are not able to write even one paragraph graduated out of the Law school. The situation prevalent throughout the country is not reflected in the judgment of the Delhi High Court. Upon a specific query of this court as to their stand and whether they are revisiting the Rules as per the direction of the Delhi High Court, the answer of the learned standing counsel is that, the Bar Council of India is aggrieved of the judgment and it has already approached the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India and filed a Special Leave Petition and the matter is likely to come up for hearing.

8. The learned counsel would submit that if the judgement is applied as a Rule of Law, then the same would open up the Pandora's box and would reduce the legal education as one of correspondence education. The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the university would place on record that there is no two opinion that the student is very intelligent. That does not entitle the student to formulate her own curriculum. She has to follow the rules of the university and the college. The College has stopped as many as forty-five students for lack of attendance. The University and the College on their part are also trying to reduce the trauma and stress on the part of the students. They are not stopped from their batches and stopped for a year unlike other institutions. They are permitted to take compensatory classes. The university also want the students to catch up and the catch up rule is followed even in case of the petitioner and whenever possible compensatory class has been given and the student was permitted to write the examination once she clears all the norms.

9. I have given my anxious consideration to the facts and circumstances of this case.

10. No doubt, as on date, the university and college are entitled to insist upon their rules, which have to be followed by every student. I am considering the case only by taking a peculiar facts into account that the student in question has not wasted her time and instead has chosen to do things which are close to her heart, namely, to work in the field of policy making and had taken up internships and work. The student is also capable of understanding the subject and selflearning, but that does not permit the Court to ignore the rules straight away and permit the student to write the examination. It must also be seen that the student, on her own, had taken up the examinations even right from the sixth semester according to her convenience and therefore it cannot be seen as if it is for the first time the student is being stopped from taking the examination or that she is not able to move along with the rest of her peers. The classroom atmosphere is also about listening to the teacher and interacting with peers. The law students also learn as a group among their peers and therefore it cannot be a case where totally the classroom education can be dispensed with. Following the rules that are framed by the university, learning from your peers and listening to the teacher all comprise the term “education” and more specifically, “professional education”. At the same time, the student expresses before the Court that she is aiming for an admission into the LLM course next year. She is writing only the four papers now. If she is not permitted now and permitted to write all other papers in the last semester, that would make 14 papers in total. That would be undue strain on her even while preparing for the admission to the LLM courses, writing essays to those universities and attending their viva voce interviews, etc.

11. The Dean of the institution was virtually present in Court. This bright student should also be grateful to her alma mater for rendering every help in pursuit of her career. The college / Institution in turn should also be proud of such good students. I am of the view that a pragmatic approach can be taken. The rules can be complied with and at the same time, the student can also be saved from the stress. The possibility of the student undertaking the compensatory classes and submitting all her assessment, even without falling short of the classes for the next year, is ascertained from the Dean. The Dean, who is present virtually, submits that there is a possibility for giving compensatory classes even during the vacation. Therefore, rules can also be followed and at the same time, the student can also be saved from the extraordinary stress of writing too many papers at the end of the course. The University does not create any permanent break and in rules advocate only a temporary break. The Regulation No.20 are extracted hereunder for ready reference:-

                   20. Temporary break of study:

                   (a) A candidate is not normally permitted to temporarily break the study.

                   (b) If a candidate is continuously absent from the institute for four or more weeks

                   i) having notified the Dean within this period, this absence shall be treated as "Temporary Break of Study".

                   ii) without notifying the Dean, his/her name will be removed from the institute rolls.

                   (c) If a candidate is compelled to temporarily break the study for valid reasons (such as accident or hospitalization due to prolonged ill health), he/she shall apply for condonation of the break to the Dean through the Head of the Department.

                   (d) For condonable break of study:

                   i) if the lack of attendance is within condonable limits the candidate shall be permitted to write the examination for the current semester.

                   ii) if there is non-condonable lack of attendance, the candidate shall re-join the program at the respective semester as and when it is offered after the break and shall be governed by the rules and regulations in force at the time of re-joining.

                   (e) The total period for completion of the Programme reckoned from the commencement of the semester to which the candidate was first admitted shall not exceed the maximum period specified in Clause No.9 irrespective of the period of break of study in order that he/she may be qualified for the award of the degree.

                   (1) In any case, a candidate shall be permitted to temporarily break the study only once during the entire duration of the program. The candidate shall forfeit the registration in case of a second break or in case of a noncondonable break of study.

                   (g) Without prejudice to the above rules, the candidate who has completed the attendance requirement for a semester but has proceeded on a condonable break of study without appearing for the University Examination, shall be permitted to appear for the examinations without repeating the semester and thereafter continue the subsequent semester.

12. Thus, it can be seen that the university itself aims at the students catching up. In view of the same, it is not impracticable or impossible for the third respondent- Deemed to be University to conduct a special examination once the student completes the compensatory classes and submits the requisite assessment, which can be in mid-semester itself, so that the student can clear all these nine pending examinations and can take up the final five papers at the end of the semester examinations.

13. In view thereof, this writ petition is partly allowed on the following terms:-

                   (i) The third respondent university and fourth respondent college shall endeavour to grant an opportunity to the student to take up the compensatory classes with reference to all the papers which she is not permitted to write, as early as possible and the student shall also undergo the compensatory classes, which can be during this semester holidays.

                   (ii) As and when the requisite number of classes is attended by the student and she submits the requisite assignment and attendance, the report can be submitted by the Dean of the college to the university and the university shall conduct a special examination for the student in respect of the nine subjects which are pending, which can be around late February or whenever the student completes the classes and that should be well before the final semester examinations. That would save the student from the stress of taking all the 14 examinations together. The student can also concentrate on the regular attendance of the final semester so that she is eligible to write the examinations and complete the course successfully.

14. Call this matter for reporting compliance, on 16.02.2025.