New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday favored a 70 per cent cut in the mandatory basic attendance requirement. Law courses And sought the position of Bar Council of India. A bench of Justices Pratibha M Singh and Amit Sharma observed that internships with lawyers were common to increase the learning curve of students and on many occasions classes were not conducted due to shortage of teachers.
The bench said that being the regulator, BCI should frame the rules for attendance in law courses keeping in view the actual ground realities in the discipline of law.
“The baseline can be 40 percent. (The rest) they can supplement with certificates (from the attorneys they are working with). Most of the classes end by 1 or 2 p.m. They can learn hands-on. The baseline should be low. Exams you can stop in any case. Can’t,” it said.
The court expressed its reservations regarding the alleged BCI circular mandating the use of biometrics and CCTV to mark the attendance of law students, and said the move was “completely far from reality”.
It said any attendance requirement prohibiting the students was against the interests of the students and asked the BCI to place relevant material on the increase in basic attendance from 66 per cent to 70 per cent.
“The regulator should take into account what the students want, what they are thinking. The regulator cannot be ignorant of what is happening on the ground. It must be justified. Why 70 percent?” The court said.
It asked the BCI to examine the proposal of reduction in basic attendance in respect of both three-year and five-year law courses.
The court gave this order while hearing the case related to the suicide of law student Sushant Rohilla in 2016 due to his failure to appear in the semester examination.
Rohilla, a third-year law student from Amity, hanged herself at her residence on August 10, 2016, after being banned by the college for not appearing for the semester exams.
The current petition was initiated by the Supreme Court in September, 2016 after the incident but was moved to the High Court in March, 2017.
The court first held that there was an imminent need for reconsideration Compulsory attendance Standards in colleges and universities as teaching methods have changed substantially since the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said that mental health of students should be taken into consideration Attendance requirements And the role of grievance redressal mechanism and support system in educational institutions should be streamlined.
The case will be heard in February, 2025.