Archive · 11 Aug 2026
Bombay High Court Grants One-Time Exam Relief to Law Students
Some students at a college in Pune were not allowed to take their end-of-year exams because they did not come to enough classes.
Their attendance was too low, between 46% and just over 54%.
The college said they could not take the exams.
So about 41 students went to a big court called the Bombay High Court for help.
The judges said the students should be allowed to take their exams this one time.
They said this was a special one-time relief just for the 2025-26 school year.
The judges also said other students with the same problem could get the same help, not just the 41 who asked.
The judges used an earlier order from the Supreme Court to support their decision.
The college and university had to arrange extra exams within four weeks for students who missed theirs.
For future years, the usual attendance requirements will still apply.
Bombay High Court granted a strictly one-time attendance relief to ILS Law College, Pune students for the 2025-26 academic year.
A bench of Justices Riyaz Chagla and Farhan Dubash allowed students barred from semester-end exams due to attendance shortage to appear.
Around 41 students with attendance between 46% and 54.37% had petitioned the court.
The court extended the relief to other similarly placed students and rejected the college and university's narrower reading of a July 21 Supreme Court order.
Students who missed exams will get supplementary examinations within four weeks; those who appeared will receive their results and marksheets.
- Who
- Bombay High Court bench of Justices Riyaz Chagla and Farhan Dubash, and students of ILS Law College, Pune
- What
- The court allowed students barred from semester-end examinations due to attendance shortage to appear for the exams as a one-time relief
- When
- Monday, August 11, 2026, applicable to the 2025-26 academic session
- Where
- Bombay High Court, Mumbai; ILS Law College, Pune
- Why
- Students with attendance as low as 46% faced losing an entire academic year after being barred from their examinations
Students and High Court
College and University
Scope of Supreme Court one-time protection
Students and High Court
The High Court and students said the one-time protection must cover students in all years of the law courses, since earlier-year students could also lose an entire academic year if barred from exams.
College and University
ILS Law College and Savitribai Phule Pune University argued the Supreme Court's relief applied only to students appearing for the final examinations of three-year and five-year LLB courses.
Minimum attendance cut-off
Students and High Court
The High Court held that since the Supreme Court fixed no minimum attendance percentage, the college and university could not impose another attendance cut-off for granting the relief.
College and University
The college and university maintained that attendance requirements should continue to limit who could take the examinations.
- Court
- Bombay High Court
- Bench
- Justices Riyaz Chagla and Farhan Dubash
- College
- ILS Law College, Pune
- University
- Savitribai Phule Pune University
- Petitioners
- About 41 students
- Attendance range
- 46% to 54.37%
- Applicable session
- 2025-26 (one-time measure)
- Supplementary exams
- To be held within four weeks