Chennai: Madras High Court has directed Anna University to issue a circular to all colleges to include the condition in the admission prospectus itself that the student will not enter colleges in inebriated condition, failing which they will be removed from the college and will not be allowed inside the college campus.
Justice N. Kirubakaran gave the directive while dismissing a petition from R. Mohan, a third-year engineering student, challenging an order of the Tamil Nadu College of Engineering, directing him to redo the VI semester.
How liquor plays havoc in the lives of the people is clearly exhibited in this case and this court should blame only the policy makers, who lifted prohibition imposed in Tamil Nadu in 1938 by the then premier of Madras President Rajagopalachari, Justice Kirubakaran said.
The petitioner, an engineering student, has completed third year Electrical and Electronics Engineering in Tamil Nadu College of Engineering. The petitioner was not permitted to write the VI semester examination due to lack of adequate attendance as he was under suspension due to consumption of alcohol during the college hours. Consequently, he was directed to redo the VI semester. Such order was being challenged before this court, the judge added.
The judge said though attendance was the crux of the matter in this issue, the core issue was consumption of alcohol in the college hours and creating ruckus among other college mates by the petitioner.
The student phase should be a knowledge gaining phase and the knowledge gained in the process would empower the person to lead a better life by getting appropriate posting and thereby leading a decent life.
However, in this case the allegation against the petitioner was that he had consumed alcohol during college hours and created ruckus among other college students, the judge added.
The judge said the atmosphere in the college or any educational institution should be an academic atmosphere as it should not be vitiated on any account. Consumption of alcohol, that too, by a student cannot be taken as an act of mistake, because he deliberately consumed alcohol during colleges hours and created ruckus among all the other college mates, thereby vitiating atmosphere in the class/campus.
If the petitioner was allowed to continue this kind of act, definitely it would not be good in the interest of the institution and also to the students. Therefore, the college rightly suspended the petitioner and consequently, the petitioner could not get the required attendance for writing the VI semester, the judge added.
Pointing out that as per Clause 6.1 of the regulation, the student should have secured not less than 75 per cent of the attendance, the judge said what was secured by the petitioner was 54 per cent attendance, far below the 75 per cent attendance or even 65 per cent on medical grounds.
Therefore, the petitioner cannot expect this court to condone the absence. Therefore, the order passed by the Anna University to redo the VI semester cannot be set aside, the judge added.
