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The Supreme Court has adjourned till 10 August, a hearing over a bunch of petitions challenging the conduct of final-year exams, after the University Grants Commission (UGC) submitted an affidavit mentioning that all universities in the country must conduct final-year exams by the end of September 2020.
The bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan, which is hearing the batch of pleas contesting the UGC guidelines, reportedly said no interim order can be passed at this stage.
The bench reportedly directed that the parties should file affidavits by 7 August, and rejoinders by the following day. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that “students should continue to prepare and should not be under the impression that the Court has stayed the notification.”
In the affidavit submitted on Thursday, 30 July, the UGC had justified its guidelines prescribing final-year exams on the grounds that students will be given an opportunity to appear for ‘special exams’if they are unable to write the ones scheduled in September.
The UGC also said that it was working in the best interests of students.
However, the UGC’s response was met with a stern rejoinder from Advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava, who has been representing a group of 30 students from across the country, who have asked for exams to be replaced by internal assessment.
In the rejoinder, the petitioners asked “who will compensate the petitioners for the loss of job opportunities or admission deadlines” as exams that are usually completed by the end of June will now begin towards the end of September.
Citing 52,000 fresh coronavirus cases recorded on Thursday, the flood situation in Bihar Assam and other northeastern states, the lack of internet in remote corners, the petitioners say that the UGC has completely failed to take account of problems in the state.
Who are the petitioners?
What do revised UGC guidelines say?
According to the revised UGC guidelines, final-year university examinations may be conducted by the end of September, either online, offline or through a combination of both.
For students of the first and second semester, there have been no change in guidelines. This means that universities can evaluate students on the basis of internal assessment and marks scored in previous semesters, if they are unable to conduct exams due to the prevailing situation.
(With inputs from Live Law)
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