UGC Final Year exams case: Supreme Court to give its verdict soon

The Supreme Court has been hearing pleas regarding cancellation of exams amid the coronavirus crisis. The top court will most likely announce its verdict on the UGC final year exams 2020 on Wednesday, August 26. In the last hearing held on August 18, the apex court had asked all the parties involved in the case to file written petitions, within 3 days.

Advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava, who is representing the students in this case, argued that the UGC guidelines, dated July 6 are violative of Article 14 of the Indian constitution that deals with the right to equality before the law.

The new UGC guidelines, released on July 6, mandated universities across the country to conduct final year examinations by September end.

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The case which has been going on since July wherein multiple cases were combined under single hearing. A group of 31 students from states like UP, Bihar, Assam, etc had filed a petition in the top court seeking cancellation of exams. The primary bone of contention for the students is the rise in COVID-19 cases at an unprecedented rate. Replies of states like West Bengal, Maharashtra, Delhi, Odisha were also heard wherein the respective state governments decided to cancel the UGC 2020 exams.

Students brought to focus the health risks associated with conducting physical exams in the middle of pandemic through social media platforms and several petitions. Online exams are also not feasible for those students who reside in remote areas. Delhi and Maharashtra governments announced that conducting college exams would not be possible given the COVID-19 crisis and thus, the two states cancelled the final year exams. UGC intervened at this junction and said that its guidelines are all-binding and cannot be disregarded by one state.

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