Cancellation of UG, PG arrear exams unacceptable, evolve Plan B: HC

Expressing strong resentment over the State’s decision to cancel the arear exams, the first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, said: “It sends a completely wrong signal. The signal appears to be that as long as they have paid the fee and we earned the revenue, they are allowed to pass. This will not do. You (State) have acted above the UGC to do something you could not have done.”

“It is inconceivable that a whole masse of students will be certified to have qualified in a system without having basic knowledge in respect of key aspects thereof. What appears to have been done by the State may be to treat all those who wanted to rewrite their exams as deemed to have passed without conducting any form of test or evaluation. The UGC guidelines did not provide for such a scenario nor is it acceptable to the court,” the Chief Justice said.

Further, on pointing out that the court is looking at the fate of lakhs of students who have gone out thinking they have passed, the bench said: “Good or bad, this measure has been done. But now measures ought to be taken to correct it so that it stops being the farce it has become.”

However, on noting that it does not propose to issue a direction that these students have failed en masse, the Chief Justice observed that the court may order that these students would be deemed to have passed their exams only if they undergo and clear some evaluation process charted out under the UGC guidelines.

Posting the case for further hearing to April 15, Chief Justice Banerjee directed the State to consult the UGC by then and come out with an evaluation process that does not compromise with the sanctity of the system, so that the future of these students does not get adversely affected.

The bench also directed the state to provide the fullest particulars on a university-to-university basis and college-to-college basis indicating the number of students who had applied for each course to rewrite the exams and the number of students who were found to have qualified upon any process of evaluation which may have been undertaken.