HC relief for law students over attendance-based marks deduction
The court was hearing a petition filed by Gargi Nandapurkar and a fellow student regarding the deduction of 30 out of a total of 40 marks from their internal assessment due to low attendance
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Monday granted interim relief to two final-year law students from deduction of their internal assessment marks due to low attendance. Government Law College in Churchgate, where the students are enrolled, had failed to adhere to attendance protocols mandated by University of Mumbai, the court noted, and directed college authorities to reassess their marks.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Gargi Nandapurkar and a fellow student regarding the deduction of 30 out of a total of 40 marks from their internal assessment due to low attendance. The students contended that they were eligible for assessment under other components and approached the court after the college principal failed to address their concerns.
As per University of Mumbai protocols, internal assessment marks are divided into four components, the petition said – 10 marks are allotted for periodical class tests, 20 for a term work module, five for active participation in classes and five for overall conduct.
The counsels representing Government Law College contended that the students were not eligible for marks under any of the components as Nandapurkar had failed to attend any class during the semester, while the other student’s attendance was 9.20%. They highlighted provisions of the credit-based evaluation system which state that in case of low attendance, students would not be allotted any marks for active participation in classes as well as for overall conduct.
The division bench of justices AS Chandurkar and Rajesh S Patil observed that low attendance could not be ignored, but highlighted procedural lapses by the college authorities, weakening their stance for deduction of marks.
The college had failed to follow protocols mandated by university, such as issuing warning letters to defaulting students at least twice every semester, displaying this information on the college notice board, and summoning defaulters to meet the convener along with their parents, the court noted
The court found merit in the petitioners’ arguments and held that they could still be assessed for 30 marks, excluding the 10 marks prescribed for their participation and overall conduct. It directed the college to complete the internal assessment by December 16, noting that Nandapurkar should be assessed for maximum of 30 marks and the other petitioner for 40 marks.
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