Don't pull up pregnant students for attendance shortage: Court-14/07/2010

14/07/2010

Don't pull up pregnant students for attendance shortage: Court

Discarding relaxations to pregnant students by colleges is certainly the mother of all ironies, the Delhi High Court has noted.

Don't pull up pregnant students for attendance shortage

Comparing motherhood to a glory recognised even by the Constitution, the High Court held that a woman student cannot be prevented from appearing for examinations on the ground of shortage of attendance due to pregnancy.

Don't pull up pregnant students for attendance shortage

"If any woman candidate is deprived or held back in any semester on the ground that she could not attend classes due to being in an advanced stage of pregnancy or due to the delivery, such an act on the part of any university or college would not only be in negation of the conscience of the Constitution, but also of women's rights and gender equality that this nation has long been striving for," said the court.

The remarks came as the court directed Delhi University to declare the result of two students, whose results were withheld on the ground that they were short of the required 66 per cent attendance. DU was also directed to promote them as per its promotion rules.

Don't pull up pregnant students for attendance shortage

Observing that the law should be an instrument of social change and not an impediment to it, the court said, "Motherhood is not a medical condition but a promise. We all kowtow to our mothers to whom we owe our existence, and to punish a woman for becoming a mother is the mother of all ironies. By not granting these students relaxation, we will be making motherhood a crime, which no civilised democracy in the history of mankind has ever done or will ever do. We cannot make them pay the price for the glory that is motherhood." The court also asked the Bar Council of India to frame rules for pregnant LLB students to claim relaxation in attendance requirement to appear in exams.

Source: The Indian Express