Supreme Court Seeks UGC Response Over Final Year University Exams Amid COVID-19; Matter Adjourned Till July 31

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing on the clutch of petitions challenging University Grants Commission’s (UGC) decision to conduct final year exams mandatorily by September-end, till Friday, July 31.

The Supreme Court today issued notice to the UGC to file its response to the pleas. The three-judge Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and MR Shah heard the matter today.

According to the Bar and Bench report, Advocate Alok Alakh Srivastava, appearing for the petitioners, pointed out, “Today 50,000 COVID-19 cases have been registered. There needs to be a stay on these guidelines until the matter is pending.”

The Solicitor General said that the MHA and HRD Ministry guidelines have stated that not more than 10 students in a room with social distancing will take place. However, Senior Advocate Shyam Divan for Aditya Thackeray said if Solicitor General would file a reply by Wednesday, he should be allowed to file rejoinder by Thursday.

Earlier, this matter was tagged with three others – including one petition by law student Yash Dubey, the plea by Aaditya Thackeray’s Yuva Sena, and a petition filed by a final year student Krushna Waghmare.

The plea by the 31 students prays for a direction to the UGC to adopt the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) model and conduct an examination at a later date for those students who are not satisfied with the marks awarded on the basis of their internal/past assessment.