Delhi High Court: C. Hari Shankar, J. reiterated that once the provision for a “special chance” stood removed from the statutes of Delhi University in 2017, the right of students to attempt papers which they could not clear, beyond the span of period, also stood discontinued.
The petitioner secured her admission in Sri Ram College of Commerce of Delhi University in 2012. In the same year she appeared in the Common Proficiency Test conducted for the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and secured 14th rank on an all-India basis. She simultaneously continued both courses. As per the petitioner, she had cleared all papers of the B.Com (H) course, except the final semester paper of Business Communications. She approached SRCC in May 2019 seeking permission to attempt the paper, which was denied.
The petitioner, represented by Apoorv Agarwal, Advocate, submitted that her parents were suffering ailments and her brother was blind from birth. She was residing in Ajmer with her family. Owing to such circumstances, she could not come to Delhi to attempt the paper. Per contra, Mohinder J.S. Rupal, Hardik Rupal and Prang Newmai, Advocates for Delhi University; and Aman Rewaria for Amit Bansal, Advocate for SRCC made submissions in support of their decision not to allow the petitioner to appear for the paper.
It is pertinent to note that Ordinance (V) of Delhi University provides for a maximum span of 6 years, from the time of joining of the course by the student, within which she may be allowed to complete the course.
Relying on Avadesh Kumar v. Delhi University, 2016 SCC OnLine Del 1949, the High Court observed: “during the currency of her Chartered Accountancy course, the petitioner herself decided to place her B. Com (H) course on the back burner…Perhaps, the petitioner did so because there was a provision, in the statutes governing the University, at that point of time allowing, to the Academic Council, the latitude of permitting candidates who had crossed the span period, a special chance, to appear in papers which remained to be attempted by them. The said provision, however, admittedly stood removed from the statutes governing the University in 2017.”
Holding that a writ petition cannot be founded on the ground of sympathy, and nor a judicial order can be based on such consideration alone, the High Court dismissed the appeal. [Aruvita Mishra v. Delhi University, 2019 SCC OnLine Del 7985, decided on 09-04-2019]
