Supreme Court to hear plea against Delhi High Court's order on minimum attendance for law students

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to examine a challenge to the Delhi High Court’s order that barred law colleges and universities from preventing students from appearing in examinations due to shortage of minimum attendance.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Vijay Bishnoi expressed concern that accepting such a position could reduce hostels of National Law Universities and other law colleges to “just boarding and lodging facilities”.

However, the court refused to stay the Delhi High Court’s November 3 verdict and posted the matter for further hearing after seeking responses from the Bar Council of India (BCI) and other concerned parties.

The Delhi High Court had delivered the judgment while disposing of a suo motu petition transferred from the Supreme Court, concerning the suicide of law student Sushant Rohilla in 2016.

Rohilla, a third-year student, had taken his life after allegedly being barred from appearing in semester examinations due to lack of attendance. He left behind a note stating he was a “failure”.

Observing that stringent attendance norms could cause mental trauma and even lead to student deaths, the High Court had strongly recommended a re-evaluation of mandatory attendance requirements for legal education.

It directed the BCI to reconsider the mandatory attendance norms for both three-year and five-year LLB courses and consider giving credit for participation in moot courts, seminars, model parliaments, debates, and court hearings.

The High Court had further ruled that no law college or university should impose attendance requirements beyond the minimum percentage prescribed by the BCI under its Legal Education Rules.

It also mandated all educational institutions to constitute Grievance Redressal Committees (GRCs) as per UGC regulations to safeguard students’ mental health and well-being.

The Supreme Court will now examine the validity of these directions in the pending plea.