Right To Appear In Exams Is Part Of Right To Live With Dignity: Allahabad High Court

Last Updated:January 19, 2026, 11:37 PM IST

The Allahabad High Court has held that a student’s right to appear in an examination falls under Article 21.

File photo of the Allahabad High Court. (News18 Hindi File)

The Allahabad High Court has ruled that the right of a student to appear in an examination is connected to the constitutional right to live with dignity under Article 21.

The court passed the order while hearing a writ petition filed by a college student who was unable to sit for her semester examination. It directed Rajju Bhaiya University to conduct a special examination for the petitioner within two weeks, allowing her to take the first semester BSc Biology paper for the 2025–26 academic session.

The High Court also asked the university to declare the examination result within a reasonable time so that the student can continue her education without interruption.

In an order dated January 12, Justice Vivek Saran noted that the student was not responsible for the situation. She was denied an admit card due to a failure in updating her admission details on the university portal. The court said her academic future should not be affected because of technical mistakes by the authorities.

According to the petition, Shreya Pandey is a first-year BSc Biology student at Urmila Devi PG College in Handia.

She stated that she paid her admission fees on July 16, 2025, and attended classes during the 2025–26 academic session. However, she was not issued an admit card when the examination timetable was released, which prevented her from appearing in the exam.

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