Telangana High Court Directs Osmania University To Reevaluate Penalty Fees For Students Appearing In Backlog Exams

The Telangana High Court has instructed Osmania University to accept the applications of students with backlog exams upon payment of a reasonable fee, eliminating the need for an exorbitant penal fee.  

Justice Surepalli Nanda emphasized the vital role of education in shaping a student's future and society as a whole.

"the Respondent No.2 (Osmania University) to consider the case of the Petitioner to pay the regular exam fee for each backlog subject without insisting for the penal fee of Rs.10,000/- (Rupees ten thousand only) without referring to the impugned notification No. 956/UG/Sem/Exams/ 2022, dated 05.12.2022, duly taken note of the fact that education is the foundation, which shapes the future of a student and which in turn shapes the future of the society in general."

The Bench made reference to Supreme Court decisions in Narayana Medical College Vs. State of Andhra Pradesh & Others, Farzana Batool vs. Union of India and T.M.A. Pai Foundation Vs. State of Karnataka and directed the University to issue revised notification for examination fees in accordance with the established law.

"The 2nd respondent is further directed to reconsider its decision pertaining to imposing penal fees as per the University Standing Committee of Academic Senate vide letter No.870/Acad.I/2022, dated 14.11.2022 duly taking into consideration the observations of the Apex Court."

The petitioner, a student who had enrolled in a Human Resource Development Degree program, faced the challenge of clearing nine pending backlogs within two years after completing a three-year Bachelor of Science course. While the university had issued a notification allowing students from specific academic years to appear for backlog exams, it mandated an impractical penal fee of INR 10,000 per paper.

The petitioner, belonging to the SC/ST community, argued that the penal fee was financially burdensome. He brought to the notice of the Court that in the subsequent year, the University had imposed a fine of one thousand rupees for each backlog paper, but, the penal fee in 2023 was exorbitantly high without any justification.

The University on the other hand contended that the penal fine figure was arrived at after due consideration by the Osmania University Standing Committee of the Academic Senate. The University contended that the students of the academic year 2017-2018 were ineligible to appear for their backlogs, owing to two years having elapsed since their graduation, nonetheless, for the benefit of the students the University had issued the said notification.

The University further contended that it had incurred exorbitant expenses to conduct the examinations for a very small number of students and hence the penal fee seemed to be high. A lengthy list was also compiled to appreciate the Court regarding where the expenses were incurred. Lastly, the University stated that for 2022, the penal fee was lower as compared to now, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and the loss of livelihood it brought along with itself.

The Court after hearing both sides held that the penal fee was exorbitant and as such it was illegal and arbitrary.

The Bench referred the judgment of Narayana Medical College Vs. State of Andhra Pradesh & Others to hold that education could not be viewed as a profession or it would beat the point of the Education Act.

"This Court opines that the same principle would apply in respect of the impugned notification dated 05.12.2022 issued by the 2nd Respondent in sofar as it imposes penal fees of Rs.10,000/- per paper for students of academic year 2017-18 for clearing backlog papers which is not only arbitrary and unreasonable but also without any justification in violation of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India."

The University was thus directed to promptly reconsider applications from students and to reevaluate the penal fee structure within four weeks, in accordance with established legal principles.

Case No: WP 931 of 2023

Counsel for petitioner: B.Akash Kumar

Counsel for petitioner: GP for Education

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