The Supreme Court on Monday had issued a notice to the University Grants Commission, after a number of petitions were submitted, challenging its decision to conduct the pending final year examinations by September 30, amid the pandemic. The court had heard four different petitions on this matter.
One of the petitions was filed by Aditya Thackeray, the Cabinet Minister of Tourism and Environment Government of Maharashtra, while the others were filed by 31 students from Indian universities, a law student Yash Dubey and another student Krushna Waghmare, respectively. "Forcing students to appear in the final year University Examination by September 30, 2020 is flagrantly violative of their Right to Life, as enshrined within Article 21 of Constitution of India," the 31 students pleaded in their petition.
Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for Dubey said that the guidelines are harsh and unreal. Alakh Alok Srivastava, who appeared for the students noted that 50,000 COVID cases were recorded in India in a day and owing to that the guidelines need to be stayed.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, on the other hand, said that the UGC had given options like an online exam, an offline exam or a merger of both, to the students. "There are MHRD and MHA guidelines which state that there should not be more than 10 students in one room with social distancing," he argued. The court has now sought the UGC's response by Wednesday.
The matter will be now heard on July 31.
