Students facing attendance shortage can appear in exams: HC

New Delhi, July 6 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Friday ordered Delhi University's law faculty to allow those students, who were barred from appearing in examinations of their respective semesters for not meeting the 70 per cent attendance criteria, to appear in their supplementary examinations for the semester concerned.

However, Justice Rekha Palli made it clear that a student's result in respect of the said supplementary examinations shall be declared only if he or she meets the attendance criteria prescribed under the Bar Council of India (BCI) rules after attending the extra classes or tutorials held by the Faculty of Law.

The court said that shortfall of attendance was caused due to failure of Faculty of Law to conduct minimum classes as prescribed under the BCI rules.

The court directed the law faculty to conduct, within eight weeks, at least 139 hours of extra classes or tutorials for those students who are desirous to attend the lectures to make up shortage of attendance.

The court directions came while disposing of 21 separate petitions filed by 53 students, challenging the memorandum issued by the law faculty on May 7, 8 and 10, detaining several students of fourth and sixth semester from appearing in the exams for not having an aggregate attendance of 70 per cent in the semesters, as required by the BCI Rules.

The court also directed the BCI to exercise its statutory powers under the Advocates Act and the BCI Rules and take immediate steps to ensure compliance of rules of legal education, by all its recognised centres of legal education.