Treated Careers As “Items Of Merchandise”: Andhra Pradesh High Court Slams University Which Upheld Results Of Students Over College Dues

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has directed one University to release results of Viva-voce Examination of the students whose results were upheld due to non-payment of dues by the colleges.

The Court was hearing a Writ Petition filed by the Degree Colleges affiliated to Acharya Nagarjuna University, seeking declaration of results of final year examinations.

A Single Bench of Justice G. Ramakrishna Prasad held, “In the ultimate analysis, this Court would have no hesitation to hold that the University is not entitled to withhold the Viva-voce Examination results of the Students on the ground that the Colleges have not cleared the arrears due to the University. The impugned action would affect only one class, namely, the Student Community, thereby marring their careers and future prospects, which is a violation of the Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. There is no doubt that the Writ Petitioner Colleges, as well as the University, have treated the careers and future prospects of the Students as 'Items of Merchandise' which can be traded or used for blackmail.”

The Bench said that the University could have adopted even the extreme coercive method to compel the colleges to cough-up the arrears, without using the examinations results of the students as a ‘merchandise’ to bargain with the colleges.

Advocate Y. Anupama Devi appeared for the Petitioners while Advocate General Dammalapati Srinivas and Standing Counsel M. Chalapathi appeared for the Respondents.

Factual Background

The Petitioners were the Degree Colleges in various districts of Andhra Pradesh. They had some arrears of amounts due to the Respondent University. It was contended that non-remittance of arrears due to the University was because the State Government had failed to disburse the scholarships on a timely basis. It was further contended that the Government introduced a scheme to reimburse the tuition fee of the students who got admission in various degree colleges. It was also contended that for the past few years, the tuition fee was remitted by the Government into the bank accounts of the parents of the students and the parents committed default of remitting the fee and huge arrears had mounted.

That apart, even for the recent Academic Years, the Government was not remitting the fee within time as per the Petitioners. Moreover, it was submitted by the counsel for the Petitioners that even if there are dues that are to be paid by the colleges to the University, that by itself cannot be a reason to withhold the results of the students, inasmuch as their career is involved and delay in publication of result would put them to great prejudice. It was also submitted that there is some delay in remitting the affiliation fee to the University primarily due to the non-disbursement of scholarships by the Government.

Court’s Observations

The High Court in view of the facts and circumstances of the case, observed, “If the withholding of Students’ Certificates is one of the modes adopted either by the Universities or the Colleges, such a practice has been treated as pernicious and perverse and accordingly deprecated by the Hon’ble Apex Court as well as various High Courts on multiple occasions. Withholding of the result by the University, as in the present case, is also one such nuance inasmuch as the end result is that the Student Community would suffer. There is not much difference between the withholding of results, as in the present case, and the withholding of Students’ Certificates, inasmuch as both actions seek to achieve the same affect which would eventually mar the careers and future prospects of the innocent Students for no fault of theirs.”

The Court noted that the dispute is essentially between the Colleges and the University, insofar as the recovery of money is concerned and unfortunately, both have chosen to treat the careers and future prospects of the students as ‘merchandise’, which ought not to have been done at all.

“This extreme and perverse method adopted by the University shakes the ethical foundations of our educational system and also the very object for which the University has been founded. The University is a temple of higher learning, with its paramount, if not the sole object is to impart Education. The purpose of imparting Education is for shaping the careers and future of the Students, which is also the part of Nation-building”, it further remarked.

The Court said that the Respondent-University seem to have manifestly forgotten its primordial and indispensable function of imparting education, as is evident from the impugned action it has resorted to.

“It is not as if the Court is oblivious of the recoveries that the Respondent ought to make from the Writ Petitioner Colleges. … After all, these innocent Students have nothing to do with this dispute and are in no way a part of this dispute”, it added.

The Court also said that any number of judicial dicta handed down by the Courts of law do not tend to cause even a dent in the pachydermic approach of the University.

“In view of the categorical directions of various High Courts and the Hon’ble Apex Court to the effect that the Certificates of the Students cannot be withheld at any cost, since it affects the careers of the Students, it appears that various institutions, including the State-run Institutions, have devised an ingenious method of “Official Blackmail” by withholding the results of the Students, although the Students did not partake in the present cause of action”, it noted.

Furthermore, the Court observed that the real adverse effect has befallen on the students due to the withholding of their results, while admittedly, they are the real innocent victims.

Conclusion

The Court, therefore, held that the impugned action of the Respondent University in withholding the result of the Viva-voce Examination is not only opposed to public policy but is also unethical and grossly perverse.

“It is unfortunate that a Public Institution like that of the University has resorted to this method without even realizing the fact that the ultimate victims would be the Students who are pursuing their courses, inasmuch as the adverse impact that would befall upon the Student Community is of an irreversible nature”, it added.

The Court, however, clarified that the University is at liberty to initiate any coercive step to recover its arrears, keeping in mind the caution indicated as regards the effect that ought not to befall upon the careers of the students.

“The Respondent University is, therefore, directed to forthwith release the results of the Viva-voce Examination of the Students pursuing various Courses in the Writ Petitioner Colleges within two (02) days from today, disobedience of which shall be viewed by this Court seriously”, it directed and concluded.

Accordingly, the High Court allowed the Writ Petition.

Cause Title- M Karthikeya Degree College & Ors. v. The State of AP & Ors. (Case Number: WRIT PETITION No. 14827 OF 2025)

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