New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) Monday questioned the legality of the Delhi and Maharashtra governments’ decision to not conduct final-year exams amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the UGC, told the bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, R. Subhash Reddy and M.R. Shah that the two state governments’ decision is contrary to the UGC guidelines.
“How can states cancel exams when UGC is empowered to confer degrees?” Mehta asked.
He also demanded time to file a reply to the stand taken by the two states, which the court granted by listing the matter for its next hearing on 14 August.
The Maharashtra government had relied on a decision taken by the State Disaster Management Authority to not conduct the exams and therefore, SC also asked if the Disaster Management Act will have an “overriding effect on the University Grants Commission guidelines”.
The UGC had issued a notification on 6 July, mandating universities to conduct final-year exams by September end.
This was challenged in the Supreme Court by a batch of petitions, including one by 31 students from universities across the country. The petitions noted that the UGC’s decision will compel students to appear for exams during the pandemic, which will be a major risk to their health.
The UGC had then defended this deadline last month in the Supreme Court, saying the decision had been taken to “protect the academic future of students”.
It had also claimed that a student’s performance in examinations, especially in their final-year or terminal semester, gives her or him confidence.
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During the hearing on 31 July, the SC bench had asked the parties to submit their affidavits by 7 August.
In response, the Maharashtra government informed the Supreme Court last week that the State Disaster Management Authority had on 13 July resolved to not conduct examinations.
The affidavit filed by the Maharashtra government said that the decision was taken after a majority of university vice-chancellors from across the state voted against conducting exams in view of the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the state.
The Delhi government had also filed a similar reply, stating that Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who is also the Higher and Technical Education Minister, had decided on 11 July that all online-offline exams of universities under the state, including final-year exams, would be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Delhi government’s affidavit had further said that while the universities tried to conduct online classes, “the reality of our digital divide is that online classes are not accessible equally by all”.
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