SC to hear students' plea challenging UGC guidelines on final university exams in next 2 days

New Delhi, July 23: The Supreme Court on Thursday stated that the plea(s) challenging the fresh guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC) will be taken up by Justice Ashok Bhushan-led bench in the next two days.

The petition, opposing final-year exams across the country, was filed by 31 students in 13 states and one union territory.

The students have said in the petition that there are many final year students, who themselves or their family members are COVID-19 positive.

"Forcing such students to appear in the final year University Examination on 30.09.2020, is flagrantly violative of their Right to Life, as enshrined within Article 21 of Constitution of India," the petition said.

In revised guidelines, the UGC has said that the final year university examinations must be conducted by the end of September 2020. The move drew sharp criticism from student, parents and politicians who accused the commission of putting student lives at risk.

The Chief Ministers of several states have already written to the Centre asking them to revise the new UGC guidelines citing safety concerns. They also pointed out that many educational institutions have been converted as COVID care centres.

However, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', defended the move and said that "exams are essential for global acceptance" and the decision was taken "keeping in view the educational interests of a large number of students".

Meanwhile, UGC, in a press statement, said, "603 Universities have either conducted the examination or are planning to conduct. 209 have already conducted examinations (on-line/off-line) and 394 are planning to conduct examinations (on-line/off-line/blended mode) in August or September."