The Supreme Court on August 28 upheld the University Grants Commission (UGC) July 6 guidelines that mandate the conduct of final year examinations by September end. It said that while states cannot promote students without conducting exams, they can individually approach the UGC to postpone the dates beyond the September 30 deadline.
The apex court order noted, " The decision taken by the State Disaster Management Authority/State not to hold final year/terminal semester examination by 30.09.2020 in exercise of power under Disaster Management Act, 2005 shall prevail over deadline fixed by the University Grants Commission i.e. 30.09.2020 in respect to the concerned State."
"The decision of the State/State Disaster Management Authority to promote the students in the final year/terminal semester on the basis of previous performance and internal assessment being beyond the jurisdiction of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 has to give way to the guidelines of UGC dated 06.07.2020 directing to hold examination of final year/terminal semester. The State and University cannot promote the students in the final year/terminal semester without holding final year/terminal examination."
Find the full order of the SC here.SC order on UGC guidelines to conduct final year exams by Sept 30 by tanya khandelwal on Scribd
