New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday ruled that no law student in the country should be prevented from appearing for examinations due to shortage of attendance and directed the Bar Council of India (BCI) to review and modify its mandatory attendance norms.

A bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma, while disposing of a suo motu case stemming from the 2016 suicide of Amity law student Sushant Rohilla, said educational norms “cannot be so stringent as to cause mental trauma or loss of life.”

Rohilla, a third-year student, had allegedly died by suicide after being barred from exams for attendance shortage, prompting the Supreme Court to initiate the petition, later transferred to the Delhi High Court in 2017.

The court directed that no student enrolled in any recognised law college, university, or institution in India shall be detained from taking examinations or pursuing further studies on the ground of insufficient attendance until the BCI completes its review.

It also said institutions cannot impose attendance requirements higher than those prescribed by the BCI and asked the council to hold stakeholder consultations with students, parents, and teachers to safeguard students' mental health.

Colleges were directed to adopt remedial steps, including weekly updates of attendance on online portals, monthly notifications to parents, and extra classes—physical or online—for students falling short of the attendance requirement.