The Telangana High Court Friday allowed a 23-year-old woman, convicted and currently lodged in Cherlapally Central Prison, to pursue her second-semester LLB course from within the prison using available technologies.
The division bench of Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya and Justice B R Madhusudhan Rao was hearing a prayer seeking direction to the authorities of Dr VRK college of Law in Mehdipatnam, Hyderabad, to receive examination fee and examination application form of the petitioner relating to second semester and also to write second semester examination of LLB course scheduled to be held this month.
P Prabhakar Rao, the senior counsel appearing for the petitioner, informed the court that the college was not willing to collect the examination fee as well as the examination application form, citing the requirements for physically attending the classes and a mandatory 60 percent attendance.
The senior counsel sought a directive from the court to the college, which was denied by the bench, stating that it could not interfere with the rules of the college.
The original application for bail for one month for the petitioner to appear for the exams was also denied by the court.
The senior counsel, thereafter, referred to a Kerala High Court judgment permitting an appellant to undergo online classes from prison.
Responding to this, the bench said, “Needless to say, there can’t be an embargo, in law or equity, from preventing the appellant to pursue her LLB course from inside the prison precincts, the appellant would certainly be entitled to pursue, in coordination with the college authorities.”
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“The appellant still wants to appear for physical classes and our petition for bail is posted for July 28. For now, the court has directed us to find out if the necessary infrastructure for permitting online classes for the petitioner is available in the prison as well as the college,” the senior counsel said, when contacted.
The appellant, Priyanka Sula, and her siblings Medipalli Tharun, 28, and Anjali Sula, 29, have been lodged in Cherlapally Central Prison since August 2024 after the court convicted them of the murder of their father and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
