Bombay High Court
Aarti Harish Bhandari vs Shree L R Tiwari College Of Law Thr ... on 25 November, 2021
Bench: R.D. Dhanuka, Abhay Ahuja
Digitally signed by
NISHA NISHA SANDEEP
SANDEEP CHITNIS
Date: 2021.11.26
CHITNIS 17:49:02 +0530
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
WRIT PETITION NO.7959 OF 2021
Aarti Harish Bhandari
Age:37 years,
Flat no.E-102, Golden Nest Phase 1(Old),
Sonam Bharati Co-operative Housing
Society Ltd., Bhayander (East),
District - Thane, Pin Code - 401 105. ...Petitioner
Versus
1. Shree L.R Tiwari College of Law
Through its Principal,
Having address at -
Shree L.R Tiwari College of Law,
Mira Road (East),
District - Thane, Pin Code - 401 107.
2. University of Mumbai,
Through Department of Law,
Kalina Campus, Santacruz East,
Mumbai - 400 098.
3. Deleted (Amendment carried out
pursuant to order dated 25th November 2021) ...Respondents
Mr. Sandesh D. Patil a/w Mr. Chintan Y. Shah i/b Mr. Prithviraj S. Gole,
for the Petitioner.
Ms. Manorama Mohanty a/w Mr. Mittal B. Nor i/b S.K. Srivastav & Co.,
for Respondent No.1.
Mr. Girish Paryani a/w Mr. Vaibhav Kamble for Respondent No.2 -
University.
N. S. Chitnis 1/7
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CORAM: R. D. DHANUKA AND
ABHAY AHUJA, JJ.
DATE : 25th NOVEMBER 2021
ORAL JUDGMENT ( Per R. D. DHANUKA, J.) :
1. Heard.
2. Liberty is granted to delete the name of respondent No.3 from
the cause-title of the petition. Leave granted. Amendment to be carried out
forthwith. Re-verification is dispensed with.
3. Rule. Ms. Mohanty waives service on behalf of respondent
No.1. Mr. Paryani waives service on behalf of respondent No.2.
4. By consent of the parties, this petition is heard finally.
5. By this petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of
India, the petitioner is seeking an order and direction against the respondent
Nos. 1 and 2 to forthwith permit the petitioner to appear for 5 th and 6th
semester examination (three year course conducted by the respondent No.2
- University. It is the case of the petitioner that the petitioner passed
Common Entrance Test (for short 'CET') for LL.B Course to be conducted
N. S. Chitnis 2/7
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by the respondent No.2 - University on 6 th December 2019 and secured
admission with respondent No.1 and passed 4 semesters out of 6
semesters. The petitioner paid the fees for third year of the LL.B Course on
22nd July 2021. In the Student Eligibility Status Report of the respondent
No.1, however the name of the petitioner was shown at serial No.3 as 'Not
Eligible (Less percentage as per O.5078)', as per Rule O.5078 of the statue.
The said Rule O.5078 reads as under:-
"O.5078 For admission to the First Semester of 3 years LL.B. or
5 years LL.B Course of the candidates securing more than 40% but
less than 45% of marks at the respective qualifying examinations
(with further 5% relaxation for the candidates belonging to SC/ST
categories) the University may conduct Common Eligibility
Examination. The Common Eligibility Examination may be
conducted either through University Department of Law or through
any of the assenting Law Colleges affiliated to the University of
Mumbai on behalf of the University of Mumbai as shall be
recommended by the Board of Studies in Law. The candidates
passing in such examinations shall become eligible for admission to
the respective Law Courses and may be admitted in any of the Law
Colleges conducting the respective Courses, subject to the
availability of the admissions / seats in the College for the course and
the Class."
6. Mr. Patil, learned counsel for the petitioner invited our
attention to various mark-sheets annexed to the petition, from page nos.21
to 24 and would submit that the petitioner was granted admission to the
respondent No.1 - College after appearing for CET and has already
completed 4 semesters. The respondent No.2 therefore could not declare
N. S. Chitnis 3/7
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the petitioner as ineligible by applying clause O.5078 of the statue at this
stage. Our attention is invited to the letter dated 18 th November 2020 from
the University of Mumbai to the respondent No.1 - College, informing that
the petitioner was declared Not Eligible (Less Percentage as per O.5078). It
is the case of the petitioner that no such communication was served upon
the petitioner by the University or the College. Only when the petitioner
visited the respondent No.1- College recently, the petitioner came across the
said document annexed at Exhibit - 'F' to the petition stating that the
petitioner was declared ineligible by the University.
7. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that
since the petitioner was already granted admission pursuant to the
petitioner clearing the CET examination and has already completed 4
semesters out of 6 semesters and the respondent No.1 - College has
already accepted the fees for the third year of the LL.B Course, the
petitioner cannot be denied permission to appear for the 5th semester and 6th
semester examination.
8. Mr. Patil, learned counsel for the petitioner placed reliance on
the order passed by this Court on 23rd November 2021 in the case of
Qureshi Alsaba Zabir v/s The State of Maharashtra and Others in Writ
N. S. Chitnis 4/7
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Petition No.2352 of 2021 granting reliefs to the students in identical facts
holding that due to the negligence of the College and University the
petitioner was already granted admission and had completed 4 semesters
out of 6 semesters could not have been denied permission to appear for
the 5th semester and 6th semester examination. In our view, the facts of this
case are identical to the facts before this Court in the case of Qureshi
Alsaba Zabir (supra) and applies to the facts of this case.
9. In our view since the petitioner was already allowed to appear
for the CET examination and after passing the said examination was
granted admission by the respondent No.1 - College, the University after
lapse of substantial period and that also more particularly, the petitioner
having passed 4 semesters out of 6 semesters could not have declared the
petitioner ineligible by placing reliance on clause O.5078. The petitioner is
not at fault because of the non-communication on the part of the University
or the College about such order passed by the University belatedly or by
not considering the issue of eligibility at the threshold.
10. We, accordingly, pass the following order:-
ORDER
(i) Rule is made absolute in terms of prayer clauses 'a' and 'b';
N. S. Chitnis 5/7
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(ii) Respondent No.2 - University is directed to declare the
petitioner as eligible to appear for 5th and 6th semester examination
(three year course conducted by the respondent No.2 - University,
within 48 hours from today;
(iii) We, hereby, direct the respondent No.1 - College to permit the
petitioner to appear for her 5th semester examination forthwith;
(iv) It is made clear that after completing the 5 th and 6th semester
successfully by the petitioner, the respondent No.2 - University,
shall grant degree in favour of the petitioner for LLB (3 years
Course);
(v) Respondent No.2 - University is directed to issue Hall-Ticket
through the respondent No.1 - College in favour of the petitioner by
Monday 29th November 2021 upto 5:00 p.m., without fail, to enable
the petitioner to appear for the 5th semester examination commencing
from 1st December 2021;
(vi) It is made clear that we have passed this order in the peculiar
facts and circumstances of this case and this order shall not be treated
as a precedent in any matter.
11. Before parting with this judgment, we direct the respondent
No.1 - College to bring to the notice of all the applicants at the stage of
seeking admission, about the eligibility criteria which are mandatory or
N. S. Chitnis 6/7
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discretionary, and that if the students would not comply with the eligibility
criteria, no admission would be granted in any circumstances.
12. The respondent No.1 - College shall apply for the eligibility of
the students to the eligibility certificate from University within four weeks
from the date of granting provisional admission.
13. It is made clear that if the respondent No.1 - College applies
for any order from the University regarding eligibility certificate in
respect of such students who are granted provisional admission, the
University shall deal with such application expeditiously well in advance
before the commencement of the examination.
14. Parties to act on the authenticated copy of this judgment.
[ABHAY AHUJA, J.] [R. D. DHANUKA, J.]
N. S. Chitnis 7/7
