Court holds NLU Jodhpur’s rules do not restrict medical relief to just one occasion; directs university to declare VI Semester result and consider promotion
Jodhpur: The Rajasthan High Court has come to the rescue of an NLU Jodhpur student who was barred from appearing in her VI Semester examination due to attendance shortage arising from her medical condition.
The Court held that the university had erred in denying her the opportunity to take the repeat examination and directed NLU Jodhpur to declare her VI Semester result.
The student was suffering from a medical condition that caused recurrent headaches and blurred vision, affecting her ability to regularly attend classes.
Her attendance had fallen significantly, and the university had earlier directed her to rejoin the VI Semester in February 2027 instead of allowing her to appear in the examination.
NLU Jodhpur argued that the student’s attendance was only 10%, which remained far below the required 75% even after medical relaxation.
The university also pointed out that she had already received the benefit of a repeat examination on medical grounds during her V Semester and argued that the benefit could not be repeatedly claimed.
The bench of Justice Nupur Bhati , however, found that the university’s own Rule 1.7(D) clearly provides that a student unable to take an end-term examination on medical grounds shall be allowed to appear in the repeat examination as a first attempt.
Importantly, the rule does not say that this benefit can be availed only once during the entire five-year course.
The Court said the university could not introduce a restriction that was never written into its own examination rules.
The Court also rejected NLU’s argument that medical relief was available only to students meeting the minimum attendance requirement, saying the university’s rules contain no such condition.
The Court further relied on the Supreme Court’s July 21, 2026 order in Prakruthi Jain v. Bar Council of India, which clarified that students whose academic sessions were ongoing during the earlier uncertainty surrounding attendance norms should not be prevented from taking their examinations because of attendance shortage.
By the time of the judgment, the student had already been permitted to appear in the VI Semester repeat examination pursuant to an interim order of the High Court.
The Court therefore directed NLU Jodhpur to declare her VI Semester result forthwith. If she is declared successful, the university must take steps for her promotion and permit her to attend VII Semester classes, subject to the applicable academic regulations.
The Court ultimately allowed the petition.