Delhi HC: Law Colleges Cannot Stop Students From Exams Over Low Attendance
Bench directs BCI to review attendance rules; institutes barred from imposing stricter norms and from detaining students during the review period.
The Delhi High Court has ruled that law students should not be stopped from taking their semester exams or from moving to the next semester only because they have low attendance, issuing interim directions that apply to all BCI-recognised institutions across India. A division bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma said colleges cannot set attendance requirements higher than the minimum prescribed by the Bar Council of India, while asking the BCI to re-examine its attendance policy for 3‑year and 5‑year LL.B. courses.
The bench noted that legal education is not limited to classroom hours and warned that overly strict attendance rules can harm students’ mental health and lead to extreme outcomes. The court asked BCI to consider giving credit for activities like moot courts, seminars, mock parliaments, debates, and court visits as part of academic engagement when it reviews the norms.
Until BCI completes the review, the court directed that no student should be detained from appearing in exams or blocked from academic progression due to attendance shortage. The court also told institutions to improve transparency by notifying attendance weekly to students and monthly to parents or guardians, and to arrange extra classes physical or online for those who fall short.
The case stems from proceedings linked to the 2016 death of law student Sushant Rohilla, which led to judicial scrutiny of attendance-related practices in law colleges. The court’s directions are intended to ensure humane, flexible, and contemporary approaches to attendance while safeguarding academic standards.
