Harry Stratton has won permission for a judicial review claim on behalf of Lakshmi Balakrishnan, a former student at the University of Oxford.
Ms Balakrishnan is an Indian national with no significant income and limited financial resources, both of whose parents took their own lives. Despite her difficult circumstances, she won a place at Oxford to study for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy on Shakespeare. She was subsequently excluded from the DPhil program, and alleges that the University’s decision-making process was tainted, including by reason of racial discrimination. She complained to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, which dismissed her complaint. She now brings a claim for judicial review.
Ms Balakrishnan’s claim initially failed on the basis of a failure to serve the claim form in time. Harry Stratton represented her pro bono through Advocate, and won a retrospective extension of time to serve, and permission to proceed with the claim on all grounds. The case now proceeds to trial.