Delhi HC also made it clear that since some students had been granted, by way of an interim relief, permission to take exams during pendency of pleas, their results shall be declared provisionally. (Representational Image)
Providing relief to over 450 students of Faculty of Law, Delhi University, who have been barred from appearing in examinations for not meeting the 70 per cent attendance criterion set by the Bar Council of India, the Delhi High Court Friday ruled that their attendance was short as the varsity failed to hold the prescribed mandatory minimum number of class hours during the semester.
“Law Faculty has, during the semester, reliably conducted only 230 hours of class, which is approximately only 50% of the mandatory requirement under Rule 10 of the Bar Council of India Rules of conducting at least 450 hours of class during a semester of the regular unitary LLB ,” Justice Rekha Palli observed.
“Needless to say, this is certainly a most regrettable state of affairs, especially for a leading centre of legal education… There is no gain saying that legal advocacy in India has acquired the status of a regulated profession due its direct nexus with general public interest…,” it said.
Quashing the May 7 and subsequent detention list issued to students, Justice Palli directed that Law Faculty must, within “eight weeks, hold at least 139 hours of extra classes/tutorials for students desirous of attending the same and making up the shortfall in attendance caused due to the varsity’s failure to hold the mandatory minimum number of class hours in compliance with BCI Rules”.
It also made it clear that since some students had been granted, by way of an interim relief, permission to take exams during pendency of pleas, their results shall be declared provisionally.