The Delhi High Court has ordered the Delhi University (DU) to notify the attendance position of each student for every month on its notice board, clearly indicating the lectures/practicals held subject-wise and the numbers attended by each student.
It stressed that the varsity should send monthly attendance updates via email, SMS, and WhatsApp to the respective students and maintain a record of such notifications.
The court said that the university must ensure transparency by clearly displaying subject-wise attendance records, including lectures and practicals held and attended, on its notice board, said a report by IANS.
A bench led by Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma issued these directives while hearing a batch of petitions filed by law students who were denied admit cards for their semester exams due to attendance shortages. The students had sought relief on various grounds, including administrative mismanagement, delayed section allocation, shortage of faculty, and the impact of internships on attendance.
The court noted that students provide their mobile numbers and email IDs at the time of admission. If this information is outdated or missing, DU must update its records within a month.
Additionally, it suggested that the Dean of the Faculty of Law, in consultation with the Bar Council of India (BCI), should create a system allowing students to contest attendance shortages within a specific time frame. If the representations are found genuine, appropriate action may be taken.
DU, in its response, maintained that the petitioners failed to meet the minimum 70 per cent attendance requirement mandated by the Bar Council of India (BCI) regulations, with no provision for relaxation. The university argued that attendance records are displayed monthly on notice boards and that delays in exams affect subsequent semesters.
Dismissing the petitions, the court ruled that Article 226 of the Constitution cannot be used to grant relief to students who have “manifestly disregarded discipline.”
It underscored that leniency in attendance rules would compromise the integrity of legal education and disadvantage students who adhere to academic requirements.
The court also clarified that any interim relief granted in connected cases was purely provisional and did not consider the merits of the matter, added IANS.
