Kashmir University law students removed from exam hall for alleged attendance shortage

12 first-year students of School of Law, Kashmir University have claimed that they were forcibly removed from the examination hall while writing their second end-semester examination on November 13, on grounds of attendance shortage. .The incident occurs in the backdrop of a recent Delhi High Court judgment which held that law students can't be prevented from writing exams on account of attendance shortage..According to the students, University staff and police personnel physically pushed and dragged them out of the examination hall to prevent them from writing the exam. The students further allege that when they began a peaceful protest, they were stopped by a proctorial team.Students told Bar & Bench they tried to contact University officials, but have not received any response yet. .First-semester classes commenced on July 14. The first-year end-semester examinations are being held ahead of the senior years, who have not yet been debarred on attendance grounds, the students said. They were able to give their first paper earlier on November 10. Their next paper is scheduled for Monday.A notice dated November 6 was circulated on a class WhatsApp group listing students barred from examinations due to attendance shortage. However, examination admit cards were issued to all students irrespective of their attendance..Students speaking with Bar & Bench claimed that officials informed them the recent Delhi High Court judgment In Re Sushant Rohilla has only persuasive value and does not have binding force on institutions in Jammu & Kashmir. The Delhi High Court judgement directed the Bar Council of India (BCI) to re-evaluate mandatory attendance norms for 3-year and 5-year LL.B. programmes, and to undertake stakeholder consultations before amending the said norms.The Court also directed that until the BCI undertakes the consultations, no recognised college, university, or institution in India should detain students from appearing in examinations on the grounds of attendance..The Department of Law, Kashmir University has BCI approval for the B.A LL.B course upto the academic year of 2022-23. Another Department of Law, University of Kashmir Campus has BCI approval upto the academic year of 2024-25. Principals of other Kashmir University affiliated colleges including Kashmir Law College, Vitasta School of Law, Sopore Law College and KC Education Foundation Law College have condoned the attendance shortages. First-year students from these colleges were permitted to write their exams..Despite repeated attempts, Bar & Bench was unable to obtain a comment from the Dean at the time of publication of the story..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.