LI Network
Published on: January 18, 2024 at 12:45 IST
The Bombay High Court has rebuked Mumbai University for declaring a student ineligible for the 3-year LL.B. course only after he had completed two out of six semesters.
Justices AS Chandurkar and Jitendra Jain of the division bench expressed discontent with the university’s practice of informing students of their eligibility status at the end of the course, emphasizing that timely communication is essential to prevent students from investing time, money, and effort in a course that may ultimately prove futile.
The Court stated, “the University should inform the students about their ineligibility before allotting the seat in any college or at least before completion of Ist semester. It would not be fair to inform the student about his/her ineligibility at the fag end of the course since by then the student would have invested much time, money and energy in completion of the course.“
Rohan Thatte, who appeared for the State Common Entrance Test (CET) in July 2021, secured admission to the LL.B. course via the Centralized Admission Process (CAP) after successfully clearing the exam. Despite providing all necessary documents, including B.A. mark sheets, the university declared him ineligible on December 17, 2022, citing a shortfall in the required percentage according to Ordinance 0.05078.
Challenging this decision, Thatte argued that the university’s interpretation of the ordinance was flawed, as the CET examination was conducted by the State, not the university. He also pointed out a discrepancy in the interpretation of marks in his first-year B.A. mark sheet, leading to a miscalculation of his overall percentage.
While acknowledging the belated notice of ineligibility, the university relied on Ordinance 0.05078 to justify disqualifying Thatte. However, the Court, drawing parallels with a previous judgment (Vinayak Uttam Hirave v. Ideal College of Law & Ors.), ruled in favor of Thatte, quashing the communication declaring him ineligible.
The Court directed the university to permit Thatte to complete his LL.B. course and instructed the declaration of results for the withheld semesters.
The case is recorded as Writ Petition (L) No. 392 of 2023, titled Rohan Ravindra Thatte v. University of Mumbai and Ors.