Delhi High Court
Ajay Kumar vs University Of Delhi on 16 December, 2021
$~17 (2021 Cause List)
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Date of Decision: 16th December, 2021
+ W.P.(C) 3593/2021
AJAY KUMAR ..... Petitioner
Through: Mr. Manish Pratap Singh, Adv.
versus
UNIVERSITY OF DELHI ..... Respondent
Through: Mr. Anshuman Mehrotra, Adv.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PRATEEK JALAN
PRATEEK JALAN, J. (ORAL)
%
The proceedings in the matter have been conducted through
hybrid mode [physical and virtual hearing].
1. The present writ petition has been filed for the following relief:-
"A) Issue a Writ, Order, or Direction in the nature of
mandamus permitting the petitioner to appear in B.Com
3rd years cost accounting paper for the year 2020-2021.
B) Pass any other order in favour of the petitioner in
the interest of justice"
2. The petitioner was a student of the respondent-University of
Delhi ["the University"] in the B.Com. degree ["the degree"]. He was
admitted to the University in 2012 and took examinations of the
degree in the years 2013 and 2014. However, he was arrested on
09.03.2015 in connection with FIR No. 168/2015, under Sections
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376/506 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 registered at Police Station
Ranhola. The petitioner was convicted of the offences by a judgment
of the Trial Court 18.10.2018. He filed Criminal Appeal No.
141/2019, which was allowed by a judgment of this Court dated
30.09.2020 and was released immediately thereafter.
3. Although the petitioner had taken all the papers of the degree
examinations during the period 2012-2018, he failed in one paper, i.e.
Cost Accounting. The grievance with which he has approached this
Court is that he has not been permitted to sit for the said paper again
as the University contends that he has already completed the span
period of six years during which the degree is required to be
completed under the Ordinances of the University.
4. The relevant stipulation with regard to the span period is
contained in Ordinance VIII of the Ordinances of the University,
which states that a candidate for the B.Com. degree must complete it
within six of admission to the first year class and five years after
admission to the second year class. As the petitioner was admitted in
the year 2012, he has not been permitted to take the examinations
again.
5. Mr. Manish Pratap Singh, learned counsel for the petitioner,
relies on Ordinance I Rule 5 of the Ordinances, which reads as
follows:
"5. Notwithstanding anything contained in any other
Ordinance, no person who has been convicted of an
offence involving moral turpitude shall be admitted to a
course of study or permitted to take any examination of
the University until a period of two years has elapsed
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from the date of expiry of the sentence imposed on him.
However, the Academic Council may, in a special case,
exempt any person from the operation of this Rule."
6. According to Mr. Singh, the petitioner, having been arrested in
March, 2015 and convicted on 18.10.2018, was not eligible to take the
examinations after his conviction until two years thereafter had
elapsed. He submits that the petitioner's appeal having been allowed
only on 30.09.2020, the petitioner be permitted to take the
examinations at this stage.
7. Mr. Anshuman Mehrotra, learned counsel for the University, on
the other hand, points out that the petitioner had, in fact, taken the
examinations in every year from 2013 to 2018, including during the
period that he was in custody. He passed in all his papers, except Cost
Accounting. According to Mr. Mehrotra, Ordinance I Rule 5 has no
application to the facts of the present case as the petitioner was never
prohibited from taking the examinations. Mr. Mehrotra also relies
upon a notification of the University dated 10.10.2012, which states
that no application for a special chance beyond the stipulated period
shall be considered by the University.
8. Having heard learned counsel for the parties, I am of the view
that the relief sought by the petitioner cannot be granted. Admittedly,
the petitioner was admitted in 2012, and the span period came to an
end in 2018. He has taken his examinations even while he was in
custody. The petitioner has himself placed on record the marksheet of
his examinations in the year 2018, declared on 10.10.2018, before he
suffered the conviction. Unfortunately, he was unable to clear one
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paper even within the maximum span period of six years.
9. Mr. Singh's reliance on Ordinance I Rule 5 of is, in my view,
misplaced. The said rule only provides that a person who has been
convicted of an offence of moral turpitude will not be permitted to
take the examination until a period of two years after the expiry of the
sentence imposed on him. In the petitioner's case, the conviction and
the sentence were imposed after the span period had already lapsed.
There is no suggestion that he was ever debarred from taking the
examinations on this ground. The said rule, therefore, does not come
to the petitioner's aid.
10. Mr. Singh submits that the petitioner was in custody from 2015
to 2020, which period would count towards the sentence imposed
upon him pursuant to conviction by the Trial Court. On such an
interpretation, the petitioner would not have been allowed to take the
exams at all during the period he was in custody. That was not the
case. I am therefore unable to appreciate how this assists the petitioner
in the facts of this case.
11. The relief sought by the petitioner would in effect grant him
more chances to take the examinations, and a longer period to do so,
than any other candidate admitted at the same time to the same course
at the University. This is beyond the scope of the Ordinance and no
writ of mandamus can be issued for such a purpose.
12. The writ petition is accordingly dismissed.
PRATEEK JALAN, J
DECEMBER 16, 2021/'hkaur'
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Signing Date:19.12.2021
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