Skipped Exam After Depression Got Aggravated In Lockdown

HC relief for ‘depressed’ SVNIT student

Skipped Exam After Depression Got Aggravated In Lockdown

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:03.09.2021

The Gujarat high court has quashed a decision made by Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat (SVNIT) to expel a student for missing out on semester examinations because he was a victim of depression aggravated by the lockdown last year.

The student approached the HC and challenged his termination on the ground that he had been suffering from depression since January 2020 and the illness reached its peak during the lockdown. Therefore, he could not take the exams, which resulted in his expulsion. The problem arose because the student failed to intimate the institute about his illness ahead of the exams. The Academic Review Committee decided in September 2020 to remove the student from the course because he could not earn 25 credits at the end of the second semester.

While quashing the student’s termination and directing the institute to take a fresh decision on continuation of his studies, Justice N V Anjaria on Wednesday observed, “The depressive cycle which the petitioner suffered was during the period of Covid pandemic itself. It was a period of wide-spread despondence. It is reasonable to believe that the situation brought about by the pandemic created an adverse effect on the tender mind of the petitioner, who disengaged himself from the studies. The ground advanced by the petitioner could be viewed as genuine as there is nothing to disbelieve the same.” After the student moved the HC through advocate Ronith Joy, the court ordered SVNIT to allow him to appear in supplementary exam in May 2021. He secured the minimum credit marks and became an eligible contender to pursue the studies further.

The high court was critical of the institute and said that doubting the student is insensitive even after a psychiatrist issued a medical certificate. The court also took into consideration that the student has cleared the exams and acquired minimum marks and his illness was attributable to the pandemic period. It will “be inequitable, arbitrary and contrary to the tenets of justness, fairness and equality, to disregard the factor” in expelling him from the course, it said.

The court asked the institute to take a fresh view on its decision by showing sympathy to the student. It said, “Approach of sympathy is not the rule of law, yet the law has to be benevolent to sub-serve the interests of justice, wherever the facts and circumstances so justify and demand. This is one such case.”

The student moved the HC challenging his expulsion stating that he had depression and it peaked during the lockdown leaving him unable to take the exam