Supreme Court Refuses to Extend LLB Attendance Relief to PhD Scholars

The Supreme Court has declined to extend to PhD scholars the one-time attendance protection earlier granted to students pursuing BA LLB and LLB courses.

Background to the request

The petition sought similar protection for PhD scholars who faced consequences for shortage of attendance. Counsel argued that the principle underlying the earlier relief for law students was comparable and should therefore be applied more broadly.

The Bench, however, emphasised that the previous order arose from a specific challenge concerning attendance requirements applicable to professional law courses.

Why the Court declined relief

The judges said the earlier direction was expressly limited to BA LLB and LLB students and did not extend to PhD programmes. During the hearing, Justice Vikram Nath also remarked that doctoral scholars were mature students and could not automatically claim the same relaxation.

The Court therefore refused to treat its earlier interim intervention as creating a general right to exemption from attendance rules.

Result

The plea was dismissed. PhD scholars remain governed by the attendance framework applicable to their programmes, while the earlier temporary protection continues to operate only within the law-student litigation in which it was granted.