HC grants relief to students refused admission due to low attendance

In a major relief to nearly 30 students, Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted them permission to continue their new academic year in their college based in the western suburbs of the city. The students were denied results by the college owing to their poor attendance.

The Division Bench of Justice Bhushan Gavai and Justice Riyaz Chagla heard a writ petition filed by Kandivali-based BK Shroff College of Arts and MK Shroff College of Commerce.

The students were in a fix after their college had refused to declare their results over a spat between the institution and the Mumbai University. The college has challenged the ‘arbitrary, unilateral and capricious decision’ given by the Low Attendance Redressal Committee of the Mumbai University allowing these students to appear for their exams. The college had also withheld their results and had refused them admission in the next academic year.

According to the college, a total of 39 students who were notified in the college defaulters’ list and were prevented from appearing in the final exams of first year had approached the committee. The exams were scheduled to take place in April 2017.

Having heard the contentions of all the students, the committee allowed only 30 students to appear and rejected the pleas of nine students, that too without citing any specific reasons.

In an earlier hearing, the judges had asked the university to furnish the reports of these 30 students in a sealed envelope and accordingly advocate Rui Rodrigues had tendered the reports on Wednesday.

After perusing the reports, the judges directed the college to allow the students to continue their studies in the same college subject to an undertaking. The judges asked the students to state in the undertaking that they would ensure that their attendance is up to the mark of 75%.

Malegaon blast accused

Mumbai: A Mumbai court hearing the 2008 Malegaon blast case on Wednesday allowed some of the accused to use laptops inside the prison for work related to the case.

They won’t be able to access the Internet, though.

“The court allowed an application moved by four accused after we said we had no objection subject to some strict conditions,” said special prosecutor Avinash Rasal.

Accused Rakesh Dhawde, Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni and Dayanand Pandey had requested the court to allow them to use laptops inside the Arthur Road jail here. The court, however, imposed several conditions, Rasal said.