A three-judge bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy, and M R Shah granted liberty to the state to approach the UGC to seek a postponement of the exams and said new dates, if any, could be fixed only after consultation with the UGC.
The bench further held that the guidelines issued by the UGC were not beyond the domain of the UGC and they related to coordination and determination of standards in institutions of higher education.
The court was delivering a verdict on a group of petitions challenging the UGC's decision to hold the final year/semester examination by 30 September.
The petition also directed the UGC to declare the results of the final year/terminal semester examinations of all the universities/institutes of the country based on their past performance / internal evaluation and to provide marks sheets and degrees.
In support of its guidelines, the UGC had submitted that its guidelines were issued mandating final year/semester examinations to protect the academic future of students across the country which were not during their final year / terminal semester examinations. Will cause irreparable damage. Considering their health and safety.
The UGC had also contended that the Maharashtra government had submitted terminal semester / final year examinations at a later date (which may extend beyond September 2020) or such students appeared for graduation and final year/terminal semester. It was decided to award them without a degree. The examination was contrary to the guidelines of the UGC. The same argument was made by the UGC against the Delhi government's decision to cancel the final year/semester examinations.
The UGC further stated that the decision by the state government to postpone final year/terminal semester examinations or graduate students without conducting examinations was a matter directly affecting the standards of higher education in the country.
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