High court lets barred students take exams in Mumbai

Twenty-three students of St Andrews College, Bandra, barred from taking their BA and BCom final exams for securing less than 20% marks in the prelims, can now heave a sigh of relief.

The Bombay high court on Friday permitted them to take the exams, but said they should have studied equally hard for the prelims.

Seventeen of the 23 students had moved court. The petitioners’ counsels Shreyas Mehta and Rajiv Sharma contended that the college cannot restrain the students from appearing for the exams as they had been issued hall permits by the university.

They said the university’s ordinance 125 (performance to the satisfaction of an undergraduate institute or its principal), which the college used to restrain the students, was for those who needed to keep term. It cannot be used to deny permission to a student to take the final exams.

“The ordinance merely permits the (principal of the college) to prevent a student from going to the next term,” the petition stated.
The students had also alleged that denying them their hall tickets was a “colourable” exercise of power by the principal, Dr Marie Fernandes, for which they tendered an unconditional apology to her before the court. The principal accepted the apology.