SC seeks UGC’s stand on exams

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought the University Grants Commission's (UGS) response to a clutch of petitions seeking cancellation of final year examinations, ordered to be completed by September 30, citing the pandemic situation, lack of transport and lodging facilities as well as flood situation in many states.
Appearing for UGC, solicitor general Tushar Mehta said of the 818 universities governed by the commission, 209 had already completed final examinations, 394 were in the process of holding the final exams and 35 did not have any final year students. Thus, nearly 80% of universities under UGC were out of the purview of the relief sought by the petitioners, he said.
A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R S Reddy and M R Shah asked the UGC to file its response within two days and posted it for hearing on Friday. Mehta said the UGC has also taken into account difficulties faced by students and has suggested three modes for conducting examinations — completely online or offline, or a mixture of the two. He said there was a further direction to universities to keep a window open for those students who miss the final examination because of one or the other reason.
The petitioners have challenged the July 6 decision of the HRD ministry followed by the directive issued by the UGC the next day asking universities to complete final examinations by September 30. They argued that given the rising number of Covid-19 cases across the country, with many students' relatives suffering from the disease, it would be inhuman to ask them to appear in final examinations disregarding their anxious state of mind, which was not conducive for one to appear in a final exam.
The petition by 31 students also cited the plight of lakhs of students in Bihar, Assam and north-eastern states, which are ravaged by floods and communication links have been cut off in many places. How will they appear in the final examination either online or offline, they asked, and urged the court to help such students.
Appearing for a student, senior advocate A M Singhvi said since the number of Covid-19 cases was rising daily, it would be imprudent to ask students to appear in final examinations and pleaded that they should be evaluated on the basis of their past performance or it should be left to individual states to decide as per the status of the pandemic. "Many states like Maharashtra and West Bengal have objected to holding of final examinations," he said.
Mehta said the UGC will file its response by Wednesday and said many petitions on the same issue were pending before high courts. "The Supreme Court should stay proceedings before HCs to avoid multiplicity of orders," he requested. But the SC, which was earlier posting the matter for hearing on August 10, advanced it to July 31.