The Delhi High Court has ruled that law students cannot be barred from appearing in semester examinations or denied progression to the next semester due to attendance shortages.

A Division Bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Manoj Jain issued a set of comprehensive guidelines regulating attendance and academic discipline across law colleges in India. The Court emphasized that institutions cannot impose attendance requirements stricter than those prescribed under Bar Council of India (BCI) rules.

While permitting colleges to mark academic penalties for poor attendance, the Court limited such consequences to a maximum reduction of 5% in marks for percentage-based systems or 0.33 in CGPA where grading applies.

A detailed copy of the judgment is awaited.