In a packed courtroom on Monday, the Gujarat High Court set aside Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad’s decision to discontinue three doctoral scholars from its Doctoral Programme in Management (DPM), holding that the institute had acted beyond the powers granted under its own academic rules. The matter involved students who were removed after failing to meet first-year academic benchmarks, a step the court found was not supported by the DPM Manual.
Background
The petitioners, including Abhilasha Ashok Kumar, had enrolled in IIM Ahmedabad’s prestigious DPM programme and completed the first year of coursework. In June 2025, the institute informed them that they had not fulfilled the criteria for promotion to the second year and, as a result, their candidature stood withdrawn.
Each student appealed to the Director under the internal appeal mechanism. Those appeals were rejected, prompting the students to approach the High Court. They argued that the DPM Manual allows students additional time and remedial opportunities to clear academic shortfalls, rather than outright removal after the first year.
Court’s Observations
Justice Nikhil S. Kariel examined the DPM Manual clause by clause and noted that the programme is structured in stages, not rigid yearly compartments. The court pointed out that the coursework stage itself spans two years, with an additional year permitted to clear failures or low grades by repeating courses.
“The manual, when read as a whole, shows a clear intention to give students reasonable opportunities to complete coursework,” the bench observed, adding that expulsion is contemplated only if a student fails to clear an entire stage within the stipulated and extended time.
The court rejected the institute’s argument that failure to qualify for promotion after the first year automatically justified removal. “If such an interpretation is accepted,” the judge remarked, “the provisions allowing repetition of courses and extended duration would become meaningless.”
The bench also noted that the rules explicitly speak of students repeating the first or second year without fellowship, which itself indicates that removal at the first instance of shortfall was never intended.
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Decision
Holding that the DPM Manual does not permit discontinuation of students merely for not clearing the first year of coursework, the High Court quashed the expulsion orders as well as the Director’s appellate decisions. The court declared the institute’s action “without authority of law” and therefore void, bringing immediate relief to the petitioners and restoring their position under the programme.
Case Title: Abhilasha Ashok Kumar v. Indian Institute of Management & Ors.
Case No.: R/Special Civil Application No. 8459 of 2025 (with SCA Nos. 8513 of 2025 and 9642 of 2025)
Case Type: Special Civil Application (Education / Academic Dispute)
Decision Date: 13 October 2025