LLM students allowed to opt out of exam

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Monday directed the University of Mumbai to not consider first year students of LLM (Master of Law) as failed if they don’t appear for their first semester starting Tuesday. The court directed the MU to allow those students, who don’t appear for first semester, to appear for first and second semester simultaneously at later stage.

The court was hearing a bunch of writ petitions filed by a number of LLM students seeking to postpone the first semester of first year LLM starting on Tuesday on the ground that there is hardly 10 days gap between admission process getting over and commencement of exams. The court however refused to postpone the exams.

“It appears that on account of delay in declaration of results, the fall out was delay in admission to LLM course,” observed the division bench of Justice B R Gavai and Justice B P Colabawalla. The bench said, “We find that it is absolutely impossible for the students who have been admitted about 10th January, 2018 to have prepared for examination which is likely to commence from tomorrow (January 23).”

Regarding the students who didn’t have time to study, the judge said, “Such of students who do not appear in the examination which is scheduled to commence from tomorrow, such non appearance should not be considered as a failure to appear in the first semester examination. Such students who opt not to appear in the examination commencing from tomorrow, would be permitted to appear for the examination of the papers of the first semester along with the papers for second semester simultaneously, and the said appearance would be treated as first appearance.”

On the point of stay on the examination Justice Gavai said that there are total 660 students. “We find that in the absence of any representation from the students who may be willing to offer themselves for the examination, such blanket order would not be in the interest of justice.”