Date:25/04/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/04/25/stories/2003042501860400.htm

Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore

HC comes to student's rescue

By Our Special Correspondent

Bangalore April 24. The Karnataka High Court has said that in the matter of education, colleges and universities could not take "hyper-technical" decisions affecting the career of students.

Justice H. Rangavittalachar of the High Court was allowing a writ petition by a 16-year-old student of Mount Carmel College in Bangalore, B.S. Swathi, who had not been permitted by the college to take the first pre-university examination on the ground of shortage of attendance.

The court, which through an interim order permitted the student to take the examination which commenced on March 5, 2003, has now directed the Board of Pre-University Education to announce the result of the petitioner. The judge has directed the college to allow the student to enter the second PU class if she had passed in the first year examination.

The student had missed classes for some time as she was suffering from acute backache. When she was denied permission to take the examination, she approached the Director of Pre-University Education. The Director held that the shortage of attendance was within the permissible limits, and the student's absence should be condoned.The court has remarked that when the Director, who was the authority to decide such questions, had already held that the shortage of attendance was within permissible limits, and in the absence of any reason to doubt the ground stated by the petitioner, "it is difficult to appreciate how the college refused to permit the petitioner to take up the examination".