In a blow to govt, HC says no all-pass sans arrear exams

In a blow to govt, HC says no all-pass sans arrear exams

Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com

Chennai:02.12.2020

In a major setback to the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to grant all pass to several lakh area holding college students citing the pandemic, the Madras high court said no state university can declare results without conducting examinations either online or offline.

The court also made it clear that universities were free to conduct arrear exams despite the government order cancelling them. Wondering how the state could compel universities to cancel examinations with a GO, a division bench of Justice M Sathyanarayanan and Justice R Hemalatha said exams could now be conducted either online or offline or a combination of both.

The case was then posted for further hearing on January 11.

The HC passed the interim order on Tuesday, refusing to accept the state’s contention that the exams were cancelled in the interest of students and to safeguard lives. As to the allegation that some universities have already declared results, the bench directed such institutes not to proceed till further orders.

The issue pertains to a batch of pleas moved by former vice-chancellor of Anna University E Balagurusamy, advocate Ramkumar Adityan and others challenging the GO cancelling arrear exams.

When the plea came up for hearing, the UGC clarified that students who have not cleared backlogs would not be eligible for even a course completion certificate.

Earlier, the state department of higher education filed an affidavit justifying cancelling the exams, saying the decision was made only to alleviate distresses faced by the student community due to Covid-19.

Denying the argument that such an order would amount to discrimination among students, the department said, “The decision would not demoralise meritorious students as only moderated minimum pass mark is awarded to arrear students... As this situation was unprecedented, students had left their belongings, textbooks, notebooks and laptops in their hostel. Therefore, they had no access to their study material.”

Students stream HC proceedings, invite court’s ire

Denied permission to view court proceedings on a batch of PILs challenging cancellation of arrear examinations, some students livestreamed the hearing on YouTube. A live feed, which was being viewed by thousands of students across Tamil Nadu for more than 30 minutes, was stopped as soon as the matter was reported to the judges.

Taking serious view of the continuous disruption of court proceedings by students and the latest livestream on YouTube, the judges warned that those responsible could face punishment for contempt of court. The court also clarified that henceforth hearing of cases regarding cancellation of arrear exams would be conducted only through physical mode.

When the pleas came up for hearing on November 20, more than 200 anxious students who stood to benefit from the cancellation disrupted the virual hearing, bringing it to a standstill in minutes. As they refused to heed the bench’s request to log out, the judges were forced to retire to their chambers. TNN

HC refused to accept the state’s contention that the exams were cancelled in the interest of students and directed institutes that have declared results to not proceed till further orders