VTU students' writ in Karnataka HC: What are the chances they will win against the varsity?

A writ moved in the Karnataka High Court by 120 students of Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) asks the university to not conduct its semester examinations offline. As an alternative, the students, through the writ, ask the university to conduct its examinations online or evaluate them on the basis of their past performance. The university, on December 9, had released a circular, asking its affiliated colleges to conduct examinations offline.

The petition moved by advocate Tanvi Dubey also has an interim prayer, which asks the court to consider the petition at the earliest, as most of the colleges affiliated to the university are scheduled to begin their examinations from January 14. The writ was filed on January 7. The petition points out that it will be difficult for a lot of students to travel long distances to reach Karnataka to write their examinations. The state had recorded 10 cases of the new strain of COVID a week ago, causing a sense of fear among the students. "All sessions, classes and labs have been conducted online and are decided to be conducted online for the next semester also. If classes can be online there is no reason why the examination is held in offline mode," reads the petition.

It also points out that in the previous semester, students were evaluated in an alternate mode and that calling students to campus in a situation like this is a "flagrant violation of the right to health and life guaranteed under the Constitution". Along with VTU, the state of Karnataka and the University Grants Commission are respondents in this petition.