Bombay HC Allows Attendance-Short ILS Law College Students to Take Exams

The Bombay High Court on Monday ruled that 41 students of Pune’s ILS Law College who were prevented from taking their May-June semester-end examinations solely due to attendance shortages are entitled to a one-time protection.

A division bench of Justice RI Chagla and Justice Farhan P Dubhash granted the college, which is affiliated with Savitribai Phule Pune University, four weeks to hold supplementary examinations for students who were previously unable to appear.

The court was hearing a cluster of petitions filed by 41 students pursuing three-year and five-year law courses. The students approached the high court after the college refused to issue them admit cards for the May-June semester-end examinations. They had submitted their examination forms and paid the required fees, but their attendance ranged between 46% and 54.37% during the 2025-26 academic year.

The legal dispute revolved around differing interpretations of attendance thresholds and permissible condonation. Under Savitribai Phule Pune University’s Ordinance 68, minimum attendance is set at 75%, while Ordinance 70 permits attendance shortages to be condoned by up to 20% under specific circumstances. In contrast, the Bar Council of India’s legal education rules set the minimum attendance requirement at 70%.

The petitioners argued that the effective attendance threshold should be 50%, calculated as the Bar Council's 70% requirement minus a 20% condonation. ILS Law College contended that the effective threshold was 55%, based on the university's 75% requirement minus 20%.

Allowing the petitions, the high court relied on a Supreme Court order dated July 21 concerning Delhi University students. That order directed that law students blocked from exams purely for attendance shortfalls be granted a one-time opportunity to take supplementary tests.

The division bench held that the Supreme Court's order applied to the petitioners before it, notwithstanding their attendance shortfall. The high court directed ILS Law College to declare the results of petitioners who took the exams under interim court orders and to hold supplementary tests within four weeks for those who could not take them. It also clarified that students who pass should be permitted to pursue their further studies.