NEW DELHI: Ending the Suspense for Seniors and Postgraduate students, the Supreme Court said on Friday that final exams are mandatory for degrees, but ruled that in a pandemic situation, states had power under the Disaster management law postpone exams beyond the September 30 deadline established by the Commission for University Scholarships (UGC).
The court said the state or disaster management authority could delay final exams but not rule them out. They will have to be rescheduled in consultation with the UGC, the court said, keeping the regulator’s mandate to set the rules for granting titles. In doing so, the CV said it recognized the importance of the evaluation process.
The SC said the UGC guidelines had taken the pandemic situation into account and given universities three options for taking final exams: offline, online, and a combination of both. There was nothing unreasonable about the guidelines, as it also provided another chance for students, who, for whatever reason, may miss final exams, he said.
Maharashtra has decided to cancel senior year exams, citing the increase in Covid-19 cases. He found support from west bengal and Delhi, who called the UGC guidelines advisory and not mandatory. In support of the decision of the Maharashtra government, Shiv Sena’s youth wing ‘Yuva Sena’ had moved the SC in defiance of UGC’s July 6 guidelines requiring completion of final exams by September 30.
Disagreeing with their position, a bench of judges Ashok Bhushan, RS Reddy and MR Shah said that states and universities had no power to “promote students in the final year or terminal semester” without taking final exams. He said that UGC was the sole authority to make a decision on this matter.
“The decision of the state or state Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) to promote students in the final final year / semester based on past performance and internal assessment that is outside the jurisdiction of the Disaster Management Act Disasters of 2005, you have to give way to the UGC Guidelines of July 6 that direct you to take the final year / terminal semester exam, ”he said.
However, the court said that if the state or SDMA has decided that they cannot take final exams before September 30, then the state will contact UGC to set a new schedule for the final exam for undergraduate courses and postgraduate. “We grant freedom to said state / Union Territory to submit a request to the UGC to extend the deadline of September 30 for that state / UT that will be considered by UGC and the rescheduled date will be communicated to said state / UT as soon as possible “, the bank said.
Writing the 160-page judgment, Judge Bhushan said: “The UGC guidelines of July 6 should be treated as if they were issued in exercise of the statutory powers vested in the commission under Section 12 (of the UGC Act, 1956). According to the Statutory Regulation of 2003, it is the legal obligation of the universities to adopt the guidelines issued by the UGC. The July 6 guidelines cannot be ignored as non-statutory or advisory. ”
The petitioners had also questioned the July 6 guidelines for differentiating between seniors and other undergraduate and graduate students. They said that while non-seniors were exempt from the exams, it was made mandatory for seniors.
The CV said the guidelines indicated that the body of experts took action in the interest of the students and their academic career. “The flexibility of the exam through offline, online and mixed mode, in addition to providing a special opportunity to those who have not yet appeared in the final exam makes it reasonable and does not violate the right to equality,” he said.
Rejecting the accusation that the guidelines endangered the lives of billions of students given the increasing trend of Covid-19 cases, the SC said standard operating procedures were established for conducting tests to ensure the safety of students. students.
In video: There are no titles without a final exam: the Supreme Court defends the position of UGC
The court said the state or disaster management authority could delay final exams but not rule them out. They will have to be rescheduled in consultation with the UGC, the court said, keeping the regulator’s mandate to set the rules for granting titles. In doing so, the CV said it recognized the importance of the evaluation process.
The SC said the UGC guidelines had taken the pandemic situation into account and given universities three options for taking final exams: offline, online, and a combination of both. There was nothing unreasonable about the guidelines, as it also provided another chance for students, who, for whatever reason, may miss final exams, he said.
Maharashtra has decided to cancel senior year exams, citing the increase in Covid-19 cases. He found support from west bengal and Delhi, who called the UGC guidelines advisory and not mandatory. In support of the decision of the Maharashtra government, Shiv Sena’s youth wing ‘Yuva Sena’ had moved the SC in defiance of UGC’s July 6 guidelines requiring completion of final exams by September 30.
Disagreeing with their position, a bench of judges Ashok Bhushan, RS Reddy and MR Shah said that states and universities had no power to “promote students in the final year or terminal semester” without taking final exams. He said that UGC was the sole authority to make a decision on this matter.
“The decision of the state or state Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) to promote students in the final final year / semester based on past performance and internal assessment that is outside the jurisdiction of the Disaster Management Act Disasters of 2005, you have to give way to the UGC Guidelines of July 6 that direct you to take the final year / terminal semester exam, ”he said.
However, the court said that if the state or SDMA has decided that they cannot take final exams before September 30, then the state will contact UGC to set a new schedule for the final exam for undergraduate courses and postgraduate. “We grant freedom to said state / Union Territory to submit a request to the UGC to extend the deadline of September 30 for that state / UT that will be considered by UGC and the rescheduled date will be communicated to said state / UT as soon as possible “, the bank said.
Writing the 160-page judgment, Judge Bhushan said: “The UGC guidelines of July 6 should be treated as if they were issued in exercise of the statutory powers vested in the commission under Section 12 (of the UGC Act, 1956). According to the Statutory Regulation of 2003, it is the legal obligation of the universities to adopt the guidelines issued by the UGC. The July 6 guidelines cannot be ignored as non-statutory or advisory. ”
The petitioners had also questioned the July 6 guidelines for differentiating between seniors and other undergraduate and graduate students. They said that while non-seniors were exempt from the exams, it was made mandatory for seniors.
The CV said the guidelines indicated that the body of experts took action in the interest of the students and their academic career. “The flexibility of the exam through offline, online and mixed mode, in addition to providing a special opportunity to those who have not yet appeared in the final exam makes it reasonable and does not violate the right to equality,” he said.
Rejecting the accusation that the guidelines endangered the lives of billions of students given the increasing trend of Covid-19 cases, the SC said standard operating procedures were established for conducting tests to ensure the safety of students. students.
In video: There are no titles without a final exam: the Supreme Court defends the position of UGC
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