Mumbai: Low attendance mars student's hope to appear for medical re-examination

The Bombay High Court, on Thursday, refused to grant any relief to a medical student who moved the court after she was not allowed to appear for the examination due to low attendance. Incidentally, this came as second blow for the Muslim student who had earlier approached the HC alleging that she was disallowed from attending class because she donned a hijab.

Last month, a vacation bench, comprising of Justice S J Kathawala and Justice Ajey Gadkari, had turned down the student's request to appear for the supplementary exam to be held in June. Instead, the bench had instructed that she would be allowed to appear for the exam in December, only of she meets the attendance criteria.

She had sought a review of the order, but, the HC refused to provide any comfort to the medical student on Thursday.

The order is in lieu with an undertaking by the Bhiwandi College which had stated that if a student meets the attendance criteria, then he/she will be allowed to sit for the supplementary exams in June.

Earlier, in 2017, the student had alleged that she was not allowed to attend classes as she would be donning a Muslim attire. Later, the college agreed to grant her admission if she wore a long gown and a headscarf.

The college said that the student attended only eight lectures.