The Madras High Court on Monday ordered notice to the Centre, University Grants Commission (UGC) and Tamil Nadu Government on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to prevent the conduct of final semester examinations for college students in the State and to declare ‘all pass’ for examinations which could not be held since March owing to the COVID-19 lockdown.
Chennai:
A division bench comprising Justice MM Sundresh and Justice R Hemalatha, before whom the plea moved by advocate V Anand came up in this regard, sought the Union government, UGC and TN Government to respond within two weeks.
The petitioner had submitted that further delay in conducting the examinations would affect career prospects of final-year students pursuing professional courses, who have to get enrolled with statutory bodies such as the medical council, dental council of Bar council before commencing their practice.
Pointing out that the trouble caused by COVID-19 is not going to end in the near future, the petitioner further submitted that the final-year students might end up wasting a year due to the continuous lockdown since March 25. Hence, delaying the last semester examinations further and declaring the results thereafter would end up causing psychological stress among the students, he added.
The PIL also claimed that many colleges had been converted into COVID19 isolation wards, making it impossible for the immediate conduct of examinations.