Supreme Court issues notice in case related to denial of promotion to student of NLSIU for allegedly plagiarising his thesis

The Supreme Court today issued notice in an appeal by National Law School of India University against an order granting admission to a student who had previously been denied admission to the next academic year due to a subject failure. 

The third year student of the integrated 5-year BA.LLB course had been denied admission in the next academic year as he had submitted a thesis which was allegedly plagiarised. When the same was challenged before Karnataka High Court, the decision of the university to deny him promotion to the next year was set aside. Hence the appeal before Top Court.

The matter was heard today by the bench of Justice SK Kaul and Justice Hemant Gupta. 

Appearing for NLSIU, Senior Advocate Sajan Poovayya sought interim direction to not consider the same as a precedent. 

"Other students have been detained too on the same ground," said Senior Advocate Poovayya.

To this Justice Hemant Gupta said, “We'll pass an interim order saying that only the said student be granted Admission for next academic year.”

Earlier, Supreme Court judge(s), Justice Khanwilkar and Justice Dinesh Maheshwari recused from hearing an appeal filed by National Law School University of India (“NLSIU”) challenging the Karnataka High Court order which granted admission to son of sitting Karnataka High Court Justice PB Bajanthri, who had previously been denied admission to the next academic year due to a subject failure. 

When the matter was called for hearing, Justice AM Khanwilkar said, “List these matters before appropriate Bench wherein two of us, (A.M. Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari, JJ.), are not Members.”

An appeal was filed against Karnataka High Court order dated March 30, 2021 wherein bench of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma And Justice S Vishwajith Shetty had dismissed an appeal filed by National Law School of India (NLSIU) Bangalore against an order granting admission to the son of a sitting Karnataka High Court Justice PB Bajanthri of who had previously been denied admission to the next academic year due to a subject failure. 

In November of last year, the Karnataka High Court overturned NLSIU orders refusing student advancement to the next year. The student had received an ‘F’ grade from the university because he had plagiarised a thesis.

He was also barred from taking the third trimester’s Special Repeat Examination for progression to the fourth year.

Since the University’s orders were overturned by the High Court, NLISU filed had filed an appeal with the High Court’s Division Bench.

The University’s Registrar had told the Bench of Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and Vishwajith Shetty that the student had earned an “A” in another project assigned to him. The previous thesis and its outcome became irrelevant since the student just had to do one more project.

As a result, the Court had decided:

“In view of the above, and since the student was subsequently assigned another assignment by the University, no further orders in the present writ appeal are needed, and the same stands disposed of accordingly.”

Case Title: National Law School Of India University Versus [Name withheld for reporting purposes] P.B. And Anr.| SLP(C) No. 007367 of 2021