The Supreme Court of India has stepped in to end years of uncertainty for a law graduate from Himachal Pradesh. On January 6, 2026, the Court directed Manav Bharti University to immediately issue all pending marksheets and the law degree to a former student, holding that she had suffered for no fault of her own due to a clerical mistake by the university.
The judgment came in an appeal filed by Pratima Das, who had completed her BA LL.B course but was unable to obtain crucial academic documents required for her professional career.
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Background of the Case
Pratima Das took admission to Manav Bharti University for the BA LL.B programme (2017–2022). While she successfully cleared all ten semesters, she was issued marksheets only for the first four semesters.
The trouble began after an FIR was registered against the university in 2019 over allegations of fake degrees. A Special Investigation Team seized the university’s records, leaving hundreds of students struggling to access their documents. For Das, the situation turned worse when officials informed her that her name did not appear in the “admission disclosure list” submitted to authorities, even though she was shown as enrolled in the university’s internal records.
Because of this discrepancy, her marksheets for the 5th to 10th semesters and her law degree were withheld.
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Along with other affected students, Das approached the Himachal Pradesh High Court through a public interest petition. The High Court set up a verification process but later observed that disputed facts could not be resolved in PIL proceedings, leaving students free to seek other remedies.
Despite multiple representations and petitions, Das remained without her documents for over two years. During this period, she could not enroll with the Bar Council, apply for higher studies, or appear in competitive examinations.
Her counsel told the Supreme Court that, “She cleared every semester, attended classes, and her name is present in the university’s green register. The error was entirely administrative.”
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Court’s Observations
The Supreme Court closely examined affidavits filed by the university and found a clear admission of fault. The bench noted that the university had mistakenly forwarded another student’s name in place of the appellant’s while preparing the admission disclosure list.
“The records clearly show that the appellant was a bona fide student and successfully completed her course,” the bench observed. It added that excluding her name from the disclosure list was a clerical error by the university and not something the student could control.
The Court also took note of the hardship caused to the appellant, stating that she had been “deprived of her documents for a substantial period of time for no fault of hers.”
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Final Decision
Allowing the appeal, the Supreme Court set aside the High Court’s order that had left the matter unresolved. It directed Manav Bharti University to issue all pending marksheets from the 5th to 10th semesters, along with the law degree and any other relevant documents, within four weeks.
With this direction, the Court brought an end to a prolonged dispute that had put a young law graduate’s career on hold due to an admitted clerical mistake by the university.
Case Title: Pratima Das v. State of Himachal Pradesh & Ors.
Case No.: Civil Appeal arising out of SLP (C) No. 15180 of 2025
Case Type: Civil Appeal
Decision Date: January 6, 2026
