SC adjourns UGC final year exam case

The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday adjourned the matter pertaining to the plea against the University Grants Commission (UGC) decision on mandatorily conducting final year examinations till August 10.

UGC had asked all universities to conduct examinations in offline, online or blended mode by September end.

During the hearing today, the apex court asked UGC to file make the stand of the home affairs ministry (MHA) clear. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for UGC said that the body will file its reply by August 3. "Nobody should be under the impression that students cannot prepare for the examination," said SG Tushar Mehta.

In today's hearing, Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for final year student Yash Dubey explained how there have been almost 1.6 million Coronavirus cases in India. Singhvi said that the optional examination system will be problematic since there will be a chaos if someone students are unable to appear in the examinations."Heavens will not fall if exams are cancelled," said Singhvi.

The three-judge SC bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said that the views of the state disaster management committee of Maharashtra will also have to be required to file a reply.

On July 30, UGC had informed the SC that if students are unable to appear for the examinations by September 30, they will be given an opportunity to appear at the specially conducted exam at a later date.