Taking serious note of a case where an undergraduate student was barred from appearing in her first-semester examination because her admit card was not issued due to a technical glitch on the university’s online portal, the Allahabad High Court has directed the university authorities to conduct a special examination for the student. It also said to ensure that her result is declared within a reasonable time so she can continue her studies further without disruption.
The order was issued by the bench of Justice Vivek Saran on January 12 while hearing the petition by BSc (Biology) student Shreya Pandey. She is a student of Urmila Devi PG College in Handia, Prayagraj, which is under Professor Rajendra Singh (Rajju Bhaiya) University.
Quoting from a Supreme Court judgment, which states that not allowing a student to take examinations would be an infringement of the rights of a child, akin to Right to Life as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, the HC observed: “In view of the law as recognised above, that appearing in examination is akin to right to live with human dignity enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution… and when the petitioner is not at fault, her future should not be jeopardised only on technical lapses.”
The court, therefore, ordered, “As an interim measure, the University is directed to hold a special examination for the petitioner for BSc (Biology) 1st Semester Course for academic session 2025-2026 within a period of two weeks from today… it is further directed to publish the result within a reasonable period of time so the petitioner may pursue her further studies.”
“It is further directed that the University shall take all appropriate steps to get the records of the petitioner updated in their records, within a reasonable period of time, so the future of the petitioner is secured,” the order stated.
In her petition, Shreya said she had taken admission to Urmila Devi college for the 2025-2026 academic session and had deposited the fee on July 16 last year.
However, she said, she was not issued an admit card when the examination date was published. She submitted a representation addressed to the Vice-Chancellor of Professor Rajendra Singh University on November 27 through the college principal.
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It transpired that her records could not be updated on the university portal, although her candidature/application was there on the portal in draft form.
The counsel appearing for the University submitted in court that the student’s record was not updated on the web portal — ‘Samarth’ — within the prescribed date. The update date was extended and the web portal reopened from October 31 to November 1, 2025. In the absence of the student’s records on the Samarth Portal, the University could not have issued an admit card, the counsel argued.
The counsel for the college also submitted that there were a large number of students whose records were not updated and it sent information to the University on October 27, 2025. On said representation, out of 30 students, the names of 25 were updated but the University failed to update the records of Shreya Pandey and four others.
After submissions by the counsel, the court observed, “It is only due to lack of update of record on ‘Samarth Portal’ [that] the petitioner has been denied to appear in the examination held by the university and for which fault of the petitioner cannot be attributed.”
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It further stated in the order, “… it is clear from the submissions raised by the respective counsel for the parties that the University had knowledge of non-updation of records of the petitioner, and moreover the same existed in draft form, but it appears that the University authorities chose not to take any action. It is also not informed by the learned counsel for the University about any procedure which the University undertakes when such technical error comes [to] their knowledge or on being informed, as in the instant case.”
While listing the next hearing for February 10, the court directed, “Learned counsel for the respondent University shall file a counter affidavit bringing on record… the procedure adopted by the University when information about inability to update on the web portal is received by [it].”
