In a show of remarkable fortitude, an 18-year-old student argued her case in the High Court as a party in person after her lawyers opted out without citing any reason, and managed to secure a probe order on her grievances against a PU college.
Radhika Garg, a student of the Oxford Independent PU College at Sir M Visvesvaraya Layout, Ullal, had moved the High Court against the institution’s decision to withhold her II PU result.
For Radhika, the trouble began even before the exam commenced. Initially, the college barred her from writing the examination since she fell short of the compulsory 75 per cent attendance required to qualify. In retaliation, Radhika, who had scored 94 per cent marks in the mid-term examination, decided to take legal recourse.
“I was informed of the shortage of attendance when I went to appear for the computer practical examination,” she said.
The court, in its interim order, permitted her to write the examination, but the declaration of results was subject to the outcome of the writ petition. After the II PU results were announced, the college management withheld her results. “I had hired two advocates, who retired from the case without notice. Therefore, I decided to appear as party in person and fend for myself,” she said.
Attendance row
During her submission before the court, Radhika contended that the authorities manipulated her attendance after her parents refused to write a letter appreciating the college “for its teaching.”
“My parents did not give them the letter because they did not want to mislead other students by giving a false letter,” she said.
“How can we give a letter when we were not satisfied with the teaching. Moreover, after my first PU examinations, I was neither given the marks card nor was any identity card issued,” she told Deccan Herald.
Claiming that the college authorities had lodged a false case against her parents, Radhika described the college’s action as “an act of vengeance.” Justice Ashok B Hinchigeri, who heard the case, directed the education officer to probe the matter and look into the original records and report to the court by the next date of hearing on May 31.