New Delhi: The Supreme Court has stepped in to grant relief to a law graduate from Himachal Pradesh who was denied her academic records and degree by a private university, despite having completed her course several years ago.
Allowing the appeal filed by Pratima Das, a bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice A.G. Masih directed Manav Bharti University to hand over her pending marksheets from the fifth to tenth semesters, her LLB degree and all related documents within four weeks. The order was pronounced on January 6, 2026.
The bench observed that the student had been kept waiting for years for reasons beyond her control, noting that she had suffered serious hardship as a result. “The material on record clearly shows that the appellant was deprived of her academic documents without any fault on her part,” the court said.
Das had completed her BA LLB course at the Solan-based university between 2017 and 2022. Her troubles began after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) seized the institution’s records in 2019 following allegations of irregularities and the alleged sale of fraudulent degrees. As the criminal case moved slowly through the courts, hundreds of students found themselves unable to access their academic certificates.
While Das received marksheets for her first four semesters, the remaining documents were withheld, effectively stalling her prospects for higher studies and employment.
In 2022, students from multiple batches approached the Himachal Pradesh High Court through a letter highlighting their predicament, which was treated as a public interest litigation. The High Court subsequently asked the university to form a verification committee to assess student records against regulatory approvals, seat allocations and internal registers before releasing documents.
When Das applied under this process, the university informed her that although her name appeared in the “green register” — its primary internal record — it was missing from the admission disclosure list for the 2017–18 academic session. Instead, another student’s name was reflected against her admission number, leading the university to refuse her request.
She then pursued multiple legal remedies, including representations to the police authorities who were acting as custodians of the seized records, but without success. The High Court eventually closed the PIL in December 2024, stating that disputed factual issues could not be resolved in those proceedings and granting liberty to affected students to approach appropriate forums.
Challenging that decision, Das moved the Supreme Court, which examined affidavits and university records in detail. The top court noted that Manav Bharti University had acknowledged her admission to the BA LLB programme for the 2017–22 session and confirmed that she had passed all semester examinations.
The university also conceded that the omission of Das’s name from the disclosure list was due to a clerical error and that the inclusion of another student’s name was a mismatch, not evidence of an invalid admission.
Taking note of these admissions, the Supreme Court set aside the High Court’s order and allowed Das’s appeal, directing the immediate release of her academic credentials and bringing an end to a prolonged legal ordeal.
