If poverty is not a sin, being poor in intelligence too cannot be: Karnataka High Court directs NLSIU to conduct special repeat exam for student

The Karnataka High Court last week directed National Law School of India University (NLSIU) Bangalore to conduct Special Repeat Exams for a student who had arrears in 18 subjects. .Justice Krishna Dixit observed in his order,."...after all, in a country like ours, if poverty is not a sin, being poor in intelligence too cannot be; denial of opportunity that was made available to others similarly circumstanced, would be discriminatory & arbitrary; it offends sense of justice and causes to the aggrieved a heart-burn."Karnataka High Court.The petitioner, who enrolled at NLSIU in 2016, filed a plea against the University's decision to detain him in his third year of the BA.LL.B course on the ground that he had arrears of papers. .NLSIU resisted the writ petition by filing a Statement of Objections justifying its decision. The University contended that the student cannot be given the benefit of a Special Repeat Examination under the Academic and Examination Regulations (AER) framed in 2009, as a fresh AER was put in place this year..After considering the arguments, the Court acknowledged that the petitioner had a "poor" academic record. However, it is for such “poor performers” that AER 2009, which provided for the Special Repeat Examination, was promulgated, the Court noted..Going by the literal interpretation of Clause 10 of Regulation V of AER 2009, the Court observed that a student who had failed in more than one subject cannot ordinarily seek protection under the same..Despite this, the Court noted that since other students who had failed in multiple subjects were given the opportunity to write special exams, the petitioner could not be discriminated against.."....however, the conduct of the University shows that the restriction as to number of subjects, has been treated only as directory and admittedly, a few students who had multiple failures have been permitted to take up Special Repeat Examinations; that being the position, there is no reason to discriminate the petitioner by trying to place a strict construction on the subject Regulation, when it admits a purposive one.".Further, the Court stated that the right of the student under AER 2009 cannot be silenced on the ground that AER 2020 had come into effect. While coming to this conclusion, the Court placed reliance on a notification issued by the Vice-Chancellor in July this year, which reads:“Academic Year 2020-21 is a transition year from AER 2009 to AER 2020 and hence a few accommodations have been made for this year to ensure that students are:not prejudiced by the retrospective application of new Regulations;given the best opportunity to progress in their academic programme;given a clear forward guidance on the future application of the Regulations.”.The Single Bench also averred that the case of the petitioner was also supported by the doctrine of promissory estoppel and fairness in public action..Justice Dixit found no substance in the argument raised by NLSIU with respect to the delay in filing the said petition. .On the basis of these observations, the Court directed the University to conduct a Special Repeat Examination for the subjects in which the petitioner has failed, within a reasonable time. .[Read order here]