A bench headed by Justice Bhushan heard the matter, gave 3 days to UGC to come up with a reply.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Monday, asked University Grant Commission (UGC) to respond to the petitions filed by a group of parents and students, which challenged the order UGC issued on July 6 which directed all Universities/Colleges across the country to conduct the exam of Final Year students by September 30. Earlier, the commission has made it clear that it cannot offer degrees to final year students without conducting the exam. The commission is not ready to budge from its stance.
But, India has witnessed protests by students and parents across its length and breadth against this directive of UGC. Several issues have been raised in the petitions, including plights of lakhs of students in states like Bihar and Assam which are facing floods and also by the students from the states, which previously declared the cancellation of Exams for all UG, PG students. States like Maharashtra, Punjab, Delhi, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Haryana order cancellation of the exams.
Many have taken this to social media platforms like-FB and Twitter, demanding cancellation of this directive.
Justice Ashok Bhushan headed the bench in the Apex Court, heard the matter and said that the UGC will have to reply in this matter on July 31.
"Let a copy of the petition be served to Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General as well as the counsel for the UGC. Counter affidavit to be filed within 3 days. Rejoinder, if any, be filed on or before the next date of hearing," said the bench.
The plea against cancellation of examination for final year students studying in higher educational Institutions across the country is at advantage as various boards like-CBSE & ICSE have previously decided to cancel the pending exams due to COVID-19.
The decision is yet to come.