The Bombay High Court has allowed a 19-year-old class 12th student to re-appear for the improvement examination as he was suffering from depression and "internet gaming disorder". The boy claimed that he was depressed at the time of the exam, which affected his performance.

As per the claims, the boy was a brilliant scholar who have always achieved 85-93 per cent marks in the previous examination. In the class 12th HSC exams last year, he only managed to get 316 marks out of 600 as he was depressed. He underwent treatment from July 2023 till December 2023 for depression.

Hearing his petition, the High Court asserted that the boy deserved a second chance as per the norms of justice.

Internet Gaming Disorder
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Verywell Health

According to his plea, he was diagnosed with "Internet Gaming Disorder" and was being treated at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Hospital, due to which he failed to appear for the re-examination held in July 2023. 

As per the claims, the boy approached the high court after the college refused him to sit for the improvement exam held in March 2024. The boy asserted that another improvement exam is scheduled for 16 July 2024.

A bench of Justices A S Chandurkar and Rajesh Patil on July 4, verified the medical reports of the boy and stated that “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."

The bench further added, “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."

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