Kerala High Court Grants Relief To Law Students Barred From Writing Exam Due To Low Attendance, Says College Failed To Conduct Minimum Classes

The Kerala High Court recently extended a helping hand to a few law students of St. Dominic's College of Law, after they were barred from writing their examinations due to attendance shortage.Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas remarked that the college failed to conduct requisite number of classes and if it had the minimum number of hours, the students could have made up for the shortage in attendance or at least reached the condonable limits.The plea before the Court was preferred by law students enrolled in the 3 year and 5 year LL.B. course at St. Dominic's college affiliated with the MG University. They contended that the college had conducted only 71 working days whereas it was obliged to conduct a minimum of 90 working days.Some of the petitioner had obtained condonation from the University for their attendance shortage whereas some of them had sufficient attendance within condonable limits. Noting this fact, the Court had initially passed an interim order in October 2025 directing the College and the Controller of Examinations to accept their examination fees provisionally, subject to the outcome of the plea. They were also permitted to write the exam provisionally.Since the college had not fulfilled its obligation, the Court felt that the petitioners were entitled to relief and the order permitting them to write the exam was made absolute.“In this context, this Court bears in mind the fact that the college had failed to conduct the minimum number of hours before scheduling the examination, which it is was bound to do. Had the college carried out the minimum number of hours and working days, there was every chance for the students to make up for the shortage in attendance and even achieve the minimum percentage of attendance or at least fall within the condonable limit. Therefore, petitioners have been prejudiced on account of the omission of the college to conduct the minimum number of working days,” the Court observed.Thus, the Court allowed the plea and observed that the permission granted to write the examination must be regularised and their results be published.Case No: WP(C) No. 37092 of 2025Case Title: Vaibhav Y. Kini and Ors. v. Mahatma Gandhi University and Ors.Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 164Counsel for the petitioners: Siji AbrahamCounsel for the respondents: Surin George Ipe, A.K. Preetha, Devika Mohan, Reshma R. Krishnan, Devadath G.Click to Read/Download Judgment

Kerala High Court Grants Relief To Law Students Barred From Writing Exam Due To Low Attendance, Says College Failed To Conduct Minimum Classes

K. Salma Jennath

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