Law Student Moves Madhya Pradesh High Court After College Bars Her From Semester Exam Over Hostel Fee Dispute
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued notice on a law student's plea against Indore Institute of Law, which barred her from appearing in the second semester, first year LLB examination, over alleged hostel dues. The bench of Justice Deepak Khot observed:"Issue notice to the respondents on payment of PF within seven working days. Notice be made returnable within four weeks. List...
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued notice on a law student's plea against Indore Institute of Law, which barred her from appearing in the second semester, first year LLB examination, over alleged hostel dues.
The bench of Justice Deepak Khot observed:
"Issue notice to the respondents on payment of PF within seven working days. Notice be made returnable within four weeks. List thereafter".
Petitioner is pursuing the 3-year LLB course and argues that the College cannot arbitrarily link an unresolved hostel fee dispute to her academic examination, despite her having paid tuition and examination fees.
Per the petition, she had paid the annual tuition fees of ₹48,000 at the time of admission for the academic year of 2022-23. It was stated that she was residing in the college association- Samruddhi Girls' hostel since November 16, 2022 and has paid a total of ₹80,000 towards hostel charges. It was claimed that after initial payment of ₹30,000, she subsequently paid another ₹50,000 in cash to clear the outstanding hostel dues. The petition stated that the college authorities did not issue any receipt for the cash payment despite repeated requests.
The petition further stated that although the accounts department refused to acknowledge the cash payment, the college issued her a 'no dues' certificate on June 20, 2023, which she claimed served as an acknowledgement of all payments made till that date.
The petition also stated that she was allowed to appear in her first semester examination without any objection regarding pending hostel dues. Subsequently, on November 7, 2023, she wrote to the hostel authorities undertaking to clear the outstanding amount by the end of December 2023,
The petition claimed that while the hostel authorities asserted that ₹1,22,400 remained outstanding, the Chairman directed that the issue relating to the disputed ₹50,000 cash payment be resolved. According to the petition, no communication warned her that failure to clear dues before December-end would result in her being barred from examinations.
The petition claimed that the student was being harassed by the accounts department due to their refusal to acknowledge the payment despite her requests for a receipt. The plea also claimed that the student was not afforded any opportunity of hearing before the decision to withhold her examination form and admit card was taken, thereby violating principles of natural justice.
Therefore, the petition seeks directions against the College and University Devi Ahilya Vishwa Vidyalaya, to permit her to appear in the second semester examinations.
Case Title: Shraddha Gupta v Indore Institute of Law, WP-15789-2026
For Petitioner: Advocate Vipul Malhotra
For Union (respondent no 4): Advocate Parabal Bhargav