Kamal Ghorui
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has ordered a law college in Karjat to pay Rs 50,000 costs within four weeks to Mumbai University for delay in informing it about the non-eligibility of a student’s transfer admission to the dual BLS LLB degree course, now called BA LLB.Justices Riyaz Chagla and Advait Sethna on March 10 said that “the petitioner should not be made to suffer on account of such delay” having completed the degree and also having passed the All India Bar Examination for enrolment as an advocate. They declared Saurabh Gutte’s transfer admission to the second year as “legal, valid and regular for all intents and purposes.”Gutte (23) was admitted to MU-affiliated IBSAR School of Law in the second year on transfer from a Sambhajinagar college under Marathwada University. After the third year, he received a BLS degree. On June 11, 2025, MU declared semester X results. Gutte was declared passed with the caption ‘Result Provisional.’ He learnt from college that his marksheet was withheld because the provisional eligibility process, for confirming admission of a migrated student, had not been fulfilled by the Karjat college. On Sept 20, the college submitted the documents.On Dec 18, MU wrote to it that Gutte is considered prima facie eligible for transfer admission subject to appearing in two subjects of the first year. On Dec 19, 2025, Gutte was provisionally enrolled as an advocate subject to submitting his final marksheet within 90 days, failing which it would be cancelled. On Jan 7, he passed AIBE exams. He then approached HC. Gutte personally argued that he had appeared for the two subjects in the second and third year.MU’s advocate Rui Rodrigues said the condition could not be waived as these subjects were not part of Marathwada University’s curriculum in the first year. He said there was a lapse on part of the college to admit Gutte without MU’s provisional eligibility letter. The college’s advocate Shubham Mishra said marksheets are issued through MU with a permanent registration number on it. The lapse is also on MU’s part, he added.But the judges said Gutte “has been made to suffer on account of lapses by the college” in failing to promptly bring to MU’s notice that its “prima facie (eligibility) letter,” a mandatory document, could not be applied for at the time of admission. The college belatedly communicated it on Sept 20, but by then Gutte had completed the second to fifth years. Allowing the petition, they quashed and set aside MU’s Dec 18 letter and directed it to forthwith release Gutte’s semester X marksheet and degree certificate.
