Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has ruled that private educational institutions cannot retain a student’s original academic certificates to recover pending fees, directing a Hyderabad-based engineering college to immediately return the documents to a student who had discontinued his BTech course.
A single-judge bench of Justice Juvvadi Sridevi, while allowing a writ petition filed by Ch Muralidhar against the Siddhartha Institute of Technology and Sciences, held that original certificates are the personal and academic property of the student and cannot be withheld by any institution.
The court observed that even if the college has a monetary claim, withholding original certificates cannot be used as a means of enforcing such claims. It clarified that the appropriate course of action for the institution would be to pursue recovery of dues through legal means.
The petitioner had enrolled in a BTech (Mechanical Engineering) programme at the college, which retained his original documents—including SSC memo, Intermediate marks memo, transfer certificate, study and conduct certificates, and bona fide certificates—at the time of admission.
According to the petitioner, he attended classes for only about 15 days before a quarrel broke out on September 21, 2025, during which senior students allegedly attacked him and his friends. Following the incident, one of the seniors died by suicide, and a case was registered against the petitioner. He subsequently discontinued his studies and returned to his parents’ home in Khammam district.
When he later sought the return of his certificates, the college refused to accept his application and instead demanded payment of fees for the remaining three years of the course. A subsequent request sent through registered post with acknowledgement (RPAD) on February 4 this year was received by the college the following day but drew no response, the petitioner informed the court.
His counsel argued that the certificates were essential for the petitioner to seek employment and earn a livelihood, adding that no dues were pending against him.
The court noted that it was “not in dispute” that the petitioner had submitted his original certificates at the time of admission and had since discontinued the course. It held that the college’s retention of the documents was “wholly unjustified” and directed their immediate return.
The writ petition was accordingly allowed.