Mumbai University: More Than 17,000 Law Students Affected, Students Move HC Seeking Results

Three final year law students of Mumbai University have filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court demanding that the results are declared, or they be given Rs 10 lakh compensation for the delay, reports the Times of India. Over 1 lakh law students are awaiting their results, out of which 17,000 are final year law students.

Petitioners Sachin Pawar, Abhishek Bhat and Ravishekhar Pandey, all students of law colleges in the city, have claimed that they were unable to apply for postgraduate courses or even jobs as their final exam results had not been declared.

Speaking to The Logical Indian, Abhishek Bhat said, “The court heard us on 24 August and then gave a deadline of 31 August to the University to declare the results otherwise the court would take necessary actions.”

“According to the section 88,89 of the new Public Maharashtra Universities Act which was implemented in 2017, results have to be declared in 30 days, or at best by 45 days. We have been waiting for almost double the period for our results, and many of them had to cancel their application to foreign universities,” Bhat added.

This year Mumbai University had started off with a new online system of assessing the answer sheets, and it is being anticipated that the delay in the results has taken place due to certain technological glitches.

Apart from the compensation, the students have demanded an inquiry committee to be set up by a retired judge of the Supreme Court or a retired high court chief justice to investigate reasons for the delay.

They also want disciplinary and penal action to be taken against those responsible for it. That apart, they have sought that a high-level expert committee is setup to monitor declaration of results every year.

The petitioners have also demanded that notifications be issued to other universities in Maharashtra to admit students in postgraduate courses by creating additional seats for them – they claim that this is not the first time the University has failed to declare the results within the stipulated period. They have also decided to come up with the Save Mumbai University Campaign.

The Logical Indian community appreciates the efforts the final year law students have taken to hasten the declaration of the results which is affecting a large chunk of students studying in the Mumbai University. We also urge the concerned authorities to sit up and look into the matter and ensure that the students get the results as soon as possible. It is appalling to see how the lackadaisical attitude of the University that is putting at stake the future of so many young minds.