DU, BCI may evolve online classes mechanism for law students, says HC

Delhi High Court allows Delhi University and Bar Council of India to develop online learning for LLB students.

The Delhi High Court has said that the Delhi University (DU) and the Bar Council of India (BCI) may evolve a mechanism to enable the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) students to attend classes online with the appropriate safeguards and conditions.

The court, in its order passed on February 11, said it was “conscious of the fact that in professional courses, physical attendance carries distinct values, however, the continuous development of the technology and Artificial Intelligence presents an opportunity to the experts to evolve effective remote learning mechanisms”.

The court was dealing with the pleas of a bunch of students, in different semesters at the Faculty of Law, DU, where they are pursuing their LLB degree. In early January this year, the varsity published a list of detained students for the reason of shortage of attendance, in which the names of the 10 petitioners were mentioned.

As the students were not issued the admit cards for the concerned semester exams, they have approached the court seeking directions for the issuance of admit cards and liberty to sit in the examination.

While rejecting their plea, Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma said, “given their own lack of diligence in adhering to the prescribed academic discipline, allowing such a remedy would set a wrong precedent by effectively rewarding non-compliance”.

The judge said it was “essential to maintain the integrity of the L.L.B. professional course and to ensure that students who abide by the rules are not prejudiced by a retroactive relaxation of discipline”.

The court further observed that there should be “strict adherence to notifying the attendance position of each of its students for each month on the notice board of the College, and it must clearly indicate the lectures/practicals held subject-wise and the numbers attended by each student”.