The court had in its last hearing directed the University to conduct the meetings of the GRC, headed by a retired Delhi High Court judge, which was challenged by DU.Delhi High Court has directed Delhi University to start its physical examinations for final year students on September 14, even as the University has pleaded that would be “too short a time and there is immense pressure on the available manpower”.
A Bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad on Monday enquired from the counsel for DU, Sachin Datta, the date when the examinations will be conducted physically for those who have not opted for the online mode of OBE examination.
Datta told the court that the University would commence the physical examinations only after September 20. However, in the court’s opinion this date was “quite unreasonable”.
DU had earlier said that depending on the number of students who participate in the online mode of examination, they will know the number of students remaining. The court in its order said, “By now, the online OBE mode of examinations have been conducted for an entire week. There should have been enough data thrown up for the University to analyse the number of students who intend to sit for the examination physically…”
During the hearing, the University also earned the court’s ire when a Grievance Redressal Committee (GRC) member, BB Gupta, informed the court that the University shared with the chairperson in a sealed cover the password of data relating to grievances of students at 11.50 am on Monday.
The court had in its last hearing directed the University to conduct the meetings of the GRC, headed by a retired Delhi High Court judge, which was challenged by DU.
Justice Kohli told Datta, “If this is the kind of rigmarole you will indulge in then it is pathetic. What kind of conduct is this ? It took you one week to file an appeal. In the meantime, you made sure that one way or the other you won’t let the committee function.”
Datta told the court, “An atmosphere of suspicion is created as if the professors are pitted against a former Judge. It is not so.”
The court then ordered DU to place the complaints received and stated to have been satisfactorily addressed by the Grievance Officer before the Committee and furnish the name and details of grievance officers directly to Gupta.
DU has also been directed to create an email ID where students applying to foreign Universities can send their details so that the DU can send a request letter directly to the concerned Universities.