Savitribai Phule Pune University. File
The Bombay High Court has expressed strong displeasure over a circular issued by Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) that provisionally promotes students who have failed in multiple semesters to higher years, terming the move “surprising” and “shocking.”
A Division Bench of Justices Ravindra V. Ghuge and Ashwin D. Bhobe was hearing a writ petition filed by Amit Sahadev Harale, a first-year LL.B. student, who had challenged the denial of relief regarding his failure in the first year. While declining to grant any relief to the petitioner, the court took suo motu cognisance of the 2025 circular, issued by the university under the signature of its Deputy Registrar.
According to the circular, students who failed both semesters of the first year in October-November 2024 and April-May 2025 would still be provisionally admitted to the first semester of the third year. Similarly, students failing in the second and third years could also be granted provisional admission to the first semesters of the fourth and fifth years respectively.
Calling the policy “beyond logic and reason,” the Bench observed that allowing students who have failed an entire academic year to advance directly to the third year would undermine academic standards. “It is beyond logic and reason as to why a student who has failed in the first year should be granted admission to the third year’s first semester. If this is the type of rule being introduced by the University, which carries the name of a great and revered educationist, Smt. Savitribai Phule, it would not augur well for the academic excellence of students in this University,” the Bench said in a September 9, 2025, order.
The Bench noted that while most universities follow the Allowed To Keep Terms (ATKT) policy, which permits provisional progression provided students clear pending subjects, SPPU’s circular appeared to bypass these requirements entirely. Finding the university’s position “unclear,” the court directed the Vice-Chancellor of SPPU to file a personal affidavit by September 18, 2025, explaining the circumstances under which the circular was introduced, the academic authorities that approved it, and the details of students who have already benefited from it.
The court has kept the petition pending and scheduled the next hearing for September 22, 2025. Additionally, it directed that if the petitioner’s father applies for permission to appoint a writer in English for examinations, the university must evaluate the request and grant permission after following due procedure.
“The court is concerned about the wider academic implications of such a rule and seeks accountability from the highest authorities of the university,” the order stated.
Published – September 11, 2025 10:29 am IST
