HC poser on arrear exams’ cancellation

HC poser on arrear exams’ cancellation

08/10/2020

Legal Correspondent CHENNAI

The Madras High Court on Wednesday wondered how students of arts, science, engineering and postgraduate computer application courses could be expected to clear their arrears without writing examinations, when an expert body such as the All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) had opposed such a move by the State government.

Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and R. Hemalatha said they would not hesitate to call for details such as the number of arrears that each student had in their course of study.

The judges were surprised over a government order (G.O.) issued on August 26, cancelling all arrear examinations citing the COVID-19 situation.

The observations were made during the hearing of a public interest litigation petition filed by E. Balagurusamy, 75, former vice-chancellor of Anna University, through his counsel E. Vijay Anand, as well as another PIL petition filed by advocate B. Ramkumar Adityan to declare the August 26 G.O. illegal and arbitrary.

In his affidavit, Mr. Balagurusamy had said that he had chosen to file the PIL petition to save the quality of education, the future of students and the reputation of various universities in the State.

The AICTE has already filed its response to the PIL petition and told the court that the government’s decision to cancel arrears was not in accordance with its guidelines.

On Wednesday, advocate V. Sudha, representing the UGC, sought two weeks’ time to file a counter affidavit.

Accepting her plea, the judges adjourned the cases to November 20.