The Bombay High Court has raised questions on a circular issued by the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) in August granting promotion to students who had not passed their backlog exams and termed it as ‘shocking’. Declining to grant relief to the petitioner who had failed in first-year LLB, the court issued notice to the university over the circular. Issued by Deputy Registrar S Davkhar, the circular allowed second-year students who had not passed their first-year backlog exams to be promoted to the third-year, third-year students who had not passed their second-year backlog exams to be promoted to the fourth year, and fourth year students who had not passed their third-year backlogs to be promoted to their fifth year. The circular had come after protests by various groups including Congress’ student’s wing National Student’s Union of India. The bench of Justices Ravindra Ghughe and Ashwin Bhobe observed, “Circular No. 209 of 2025 issued by the Savitribai Phule Pune University under the signature of the deputy registrar of the university, is not only surprising, but, shocking.” The HC observed that provided the version of the petitioner is accepted, “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.” Further, the court instructed the vice-chancellor to file a personal affidavit by September 18 ‘setting forth all the grounds and circumstances in which this proposal for the introduction of Circular No. 209 of 2025, was mooted and which academic authority of the university i.e. Board of Studies, Academic Council, have cleared such a proposal. So also, the VC would give us the specific full names/details of the students who have taken the benefit of this circular’.
