Apex Court approved UGC guidelines of final year exams saying states cannot cancel exams without UGC permission

The Supreme Court has also approved the guidelines of the UGC regarding the final year examinations of undergraduate courses in colleges and universities across the country. The Supreme Court has said that states cannot cancel the exam without the permission of the UGC. Students cannot pass without conducting final year examinations. States will have to conduct the exam by 30 September. The court said that the states which are not willing to take the final year examination by 30 September, they will have to inform the UGC.

On July 6, the UGC directed universities across the country to conduct final year examinations by September 30. It had said that if the examinations were not held, the future of the students would be in danger. The guidelines of the UGC were challenged in the Supreme Court by many students and organizations across the country. It was said in the petitions that conducting examinations in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic is not good for the safety of students. The UGC should cancel the examinations and declare the results based on the students’ past performance and internal evaluation.

Among those who filed a petition in the apex court regarding this subject, the Yuva Sena is also the youth wing of the Shiv Sena. It has questioned the UGC’s directive to conduct examinations during the epidemic.

The apex court in its judgment upheld the UGC’s July 6 circular, stating that under the Disaster Management Act, states can postpone the examination keeping in view the epidemic but they will have to set new dates in consultation with the UGC.

Earlier, the UGC had told the apex court that there was no decree issued on July 6 for universities and colleges to conduct final year examinations between the Covid-19 epidemic by September 30, but without conducting the state degree examinations, the state can not decide to provide degree. The UGC had told the court that this instruction is for the “benefit of the students” as universities have to start admissions for postgraduate courses and the state authorities cannot ignore the UGC guidelines.