Student should not be stigmatised due to pendency of FIR, says HC
Student should not be stigmatised due to pendency of FIR, says HC
Kaushik Kannan | TNN | Dec 3, 2019, 04:08 IST
Get Notifications on latest Madurai News
Madurai: A student should not be stigmatised just because an FIR is pending against him, the Madras high court has said and directed a private college to permit a student to continue his studies, after the management refused to allow him to continue his course as a case was registered against him.
The petitioner, a 19-year-old boy was studying BE Civil Engineering in the private college affiliated to the Anna University in Tuticorin district. When he was studying fifth semester, a case was registered by the Tuticorin South police station on September 15 in connection with a double murder case. Though he was not one of the seven named accused, his name was arrayed as 10th accused.
Ad
The petitioner surrendered before the Tirunelveli judicial magistrate court after which he was remanded. Subsequently, the high court granted him bail on October 24. When the boy went back to college, the management refused to permit him and asked him to take the transfer certificate.
Hence, he moved the HC Madurai bench seeking for a direction for him to continue in the college and also for an interim direction to permit him to appear for the fifth semester exam.
Ad
Justice M Sundar observed that it is clear from the counter-affidavit of the college that it has not initiated any inquiry against the petitioner till date, however, they raised few points with regard to possible retaliation and uneasiness among other students.
The judge cited that the law enforcing authorities would ensure peace and tranquillity with regard to the possible retaliation point mentioned by the college. “With regard to the point of uneasiness, the court is unable to countenance the same as it is predicated on stigmatising a student owing to the pendency of an FIR for him to pursue a court,” observed the judge.
The judge also took cognizance of the submission by the petitioner’s counsel stating that the petitioner will ensure disciplined behaviour inside and outside college in the days to come. Hence, the judge directed the college management to permit the petitioner to continue his course by redoing the fifth semester in June 2020
