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The student was admitted and completed the first semester, but his results were voided after the university found his admission violated 2019-20 eligibility rules
The Allahabad High Court recently directed a law college in Gorakhpur to pay Rs. 5,00,000 as compensation to a law student whose admission was wrongfully canceled due to the institution’s negligence.
The division bench of Justices Vikas Budhwar and Manoj Kumar Gupta found that the Prabha Devi Bhagwati Prasad Vidhi Mahavidyalaya had acted recklessly in admitting the student despite his ineligibility, subsequently jeopardizing his academic career.
The order was passed in an appeal filed by the student namely Ajay Kumar Pandey challenging the cancellation of his admission to the LLB course for the academic session 2019-20.
Initially admitted and allowed to appear for the first semester, Pandey's results were declared on May 26, 2020. However, upon review, the university determined that his admission, along with 54 others, violated the eligibility criteria set in the 2019-20 academic brochure, which required students to possess a graduation degree from 2016 or later. Pandey’s degree was from 2008, which the law college failed to verify properly.
The issue escalated when Pandey was denied the opportunity to appear for the second semester viva voce scheduled for January 24, 2021, prompting him to file multiple representations and writ petitions. Despite re-evaluating his first-semester marks, the university maintained that his admission was illegal, leading to its cancellation on January 4, 2021. Pandey's appeal against this decision was dismissed by a single-judge bench in August 2024, with the court citing that the rules for admission were not under challenge.
However, Pandey’s plea focused on the fact that the law college's failure to verify his documents before admission caused him to lose time and money.
The high court criticized the college's conduct, stating it had acted carelessly to admit students and collect fees. It noted that the law college admitted its fault and did not dispute the mishandling of admissions. The college’s negligence had not only affected Pandey but 54 other students as well, all of whom were ineligible under the university's guidelines.
The high court upheld the university’s decision to cancel Pandey’s admission but found that the compensation awarded by the lower court was insufficient. The initial compensation of Rs. 30,000, which included a refund of Rs. 6,000 in fees, was increased to Rs. 5,00,000, acknowledging the significant impact on the student's academic future.
Court emphasized that the law college's actions amounted to jeopardizing Pandey's career and ruled that such negligence must be met with appropriate financial redress.
If the college fails to pay the compensation within six weeks, the amount will be recovered as arrears of land revenue, court ordered.
Case Title: Ajay Kumar Pandey Vs. State Of U.P. And 3 Others
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