Bombay HC Allows Boy Suffering From Internet Gaming Disorder To Appear For Improvement Exams

The Bombay High Court has permitted a 19-year-old boy to re-appear for the improvement exam for Class XII that he could not answer last year as he was suffering from depression and Internet Gaming Disorder

The court noted that the boy deserves to be given an opportunity to appear for the improvement exam for his Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) in the interest of justice.

The HC was hearing a petition filed by the boy stating that he was an above average student and used to secure 85-93 per cent marks till Class XI. However, he managed to get 316 marks out of 600 marks in his Class XII exams in March 2023 as he was suffering from depression. He was undergoing treatment from July 2023 till December 2023 for depression adm anxiety. 

His plea also said that he underwent treatment at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Hospital, adding he was diagnosed with Internet Gaming Disorder due to which he could not appear for the re-examination held in July 2023.

 He approached the HC after his request to appear for the improvement exam to be held in March 2024 was refused by the college. Another improvement exam is scheduled for July 16 this year, he said. 

The Judges went through the boy's medical report and said he was undergoing treatment for Internet Gaming Disorder. “The authenticity of the documents is not doubted. In the peculiar facts of the case, we find that an opportunity deserves to be granted to the petitioner to seek improvement in his marks since he was precluded from doing so earlier for medical reasons. In our view, the medical papers substantiate the petitioner's plea that he was unable to take the said examination earlier," a bench of Justices A S Chandurkar and Rajesh Patil said on July 4.

“In the interest of justice, subject to the petitioner making the requisite application seeking permission to appear in July 2024 examination with the college, coupled with payment of necessary late fees, he shall be permitted to appear in the examination that is to commence from July 16,” the bench added.