{"id":8799,"date":"2026-05-18T05:52:52","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T05:52:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/?p=8799"},"modified":"2026-05-18T05:52:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T05:52:53","slug":"can-law-students-with-attendance-shortage-appear-in-exams-sc-to-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/can-law-students-with-attendance-shortage-appear-in-exams-sc-to-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Law Students With Attendance Shortage Appear in Exams? SC to Rule"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New Delhi:<\/strong> The Supreme Court has agreed to examine a major issue affecting law students across the country \u2014 whether students with low attendance can be barred from appearing in examinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The matter is being seen as a significant case that could shape the future of attendance rules and academic discipline in professional education institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The controversy reached the Supreme Court after Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) challenged a November 2025 judgment of the Delhi High Court. The High Court had ruled that students studying in recognised law colleges or universities should not be prevented from appearing in examinations solely on the ground of attendance shortage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the High Court ruling, several students approached courts seeking permission to sit for examinations despite low attendance. NMIMS argued before the Supreme Court that such orders were affecting academic discipline and undermining the autonomy of educational institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Vijay Bishnoi, however, refused to stay the Delhi High Court judgment for the time being. The bench said it would hear the matter in detail and later clarify the legal position regarding attendance requirements in law colleges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the hearing, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for NMIMS, questioned the implications of the High Court order. He argued that if attendance norms were diluted, students might stop attending colleges altogether, weakening the importance of regular classroom education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Supreme Court also expressed concern over the possible impact on legal education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bench remarked that if such an interpretation continued, National Law University hostels could turn into mere \u201cboarding and lodging facilities,\u201d indicating apprehension over declining classroom participation and educational standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case is closely linked to regulations framed by the Bar Council of India (BCI), which mandates a minimum 70% attendance requirement for law students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In exceptional circumstances, attendance may be relaxed up to 65%, but students below that threshold are generally not permitted to appear in examinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NMIMS argued that mandatory attendance is necessary to maintain the quality of professional legal education. The institution stated that lectures, tutorials, moot court exercises and practical classroom learning cannot be fully replaced by internships or extracurricular activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The petition also cited legal education systems in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Singapore, claiming that attendance norms are treated as an essential part of professional courses internationally as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Supreme Court has now sought a response from the Bar Council of India and tagged the matter with other pending petitions challenging various BCI regulations, including rules relating to attendance compliance, criminal background disclosure, simultaneous academic pursuits and employment status of students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Court\u2019s eventual ruling is expected to determine whether educational institutions can deny examination eligibility on the basis of low attendance and how a balance should be maintained between institutional discipline and student rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legal experts believe the judgment could have far-reaching consequences not only for law colleges but for professional education institutions across India.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has agreed to examine a major issue affecting law students across the country \u2014 whether students with low attendance can be barred from appearing in examinations. The matter is being seen as a significant case that could shape the future of attendance rules and academic discipline in professional education institutions. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wppp_is_locked":false,"_wppp_selected_plans":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[303,304,191,305,299,309,311,201,290,202,307,298,310,300,308,306,301,302,55],"class_list":["post-8799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-careers","category-supreme-court","tag-academic-discipline","tag-attendance-shortage-case","tag-bar-council-of-india","tag-bci-attendance-rules","tag-delhi-high-court","tag-examination-eligibility","tag-higher-education-india","tag-justice-sandeep-mehta","tag-justice-vijay-bishnoi","tag-justice-vikram-nath","tag-law-college-attendance","tag-law-students-attendance-case","tag-legal-education-india","tag-legal-news-india","tag-national-law-universities","tag-nmims","tag-professional-education","tag-student-rights","tag-supreme-court-of-india"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8799"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8801,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8799\/revisions\/8801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}