7 students rusticated for ragging allowed to take exams: Bombay high court

The high court has allowed seven students, who were rusticated for ragging, to appear for exams in May.

A division bench of justices AV Mohta and MS Sonak on Friday allowed the students from Army Institute of Technology, Pune, to appear for their final examinations in May.

The students were rusticated in March, for allegedly ragging a junior. As per the Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act, ragging is prohibited in educational campuses. They were rusticated under the Ragging Act, read with the University Grant Commission's Prevention of Ragging Regulation.

Uday Warunjikar, counsel for the students, argued that the students should be allowed to appear for the examinations otherwise they will lose one whole academic year.

Agreeing with Warunjikar, the high court has allowed the seven students to appear for the exam. The judges asked the students to fill in their form by April 29.

The high court, however, said that their results will be subject to the final outcome of the HC order.

The judges have kept the petition for final hearing on June 17, which will finally decide the fate of the seven students.