VTU students move Karnataka HC asking the university to not conduct exams offline

As many as 120 students of Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) have moved the Karnataka High Court seeking that the university cancels its decision to conduct its end semester examination offline. The writ was moved on Thursday by advocate Tanvi Dubey, along with an urgent memo.

"Writ filed on behalf of 120 students before Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka seeking to quash notification providing for the conduct of exams in offline mode," Dubey tweeted. She had previously helped over a thousand students move a representation to the university seeking the same.

A circular by the university sent on December 8 had asked all the colleges to conduct their current semester examinations offline, much to students' dismay.  More than 200 engineering colleges in Karnataka are affiliated to the university. "We are yet to find out when the petition will be heard. Along with this, we have also prayed on how these students have to be assessed if the exams are not held offline," she says.

The university's decision to conduct offline examinations was met with a lot of hue and cry. This had escalated after 10 people in Bengaluru tested positive for the new strain of COVID and after around 200 people in IIT Madras tested positive in a week. "We are really scared to come to college and write exams offline. This will increase our chances of contracting the virus," a student who spoke to EdexLive had previously said.