The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Delhi University to clarify by July 13 the date sheets of the final year under-graduate exams which have seen a series of postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subromanium Prasad also expressed displeasure at the varsity for postponing the exams which were scheduled for July 10 and deferring them to a date beyond August 15.
“Why are you pushing the examination schedule to a date beyond August 15 knowing very well that the career of thousands of students hinges on the results declared and the certificate issued of passing out,” the Bench remaked.
The counsel for petitioners, all final year students, have given a list of over 40 reasons of what kind of problem they would facing as a result of this deferment.
“Have some empathy for the students. Their entire career hinges on the exam timeline,” the Bench said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, apearing for the University Grants Commission, stated that fresh Standard Operating Procedure and office memorandum had been issued by the Ministry of Human Resource Development mandating an exam for the final year students.
Mr. Mehta said universities across the country had been granted the option of conducting the final year exam either online, offline or a merger of both.
The High Court remarked that the “Delhi University has been turning turtle a little too often for our comfort” pointing to the series of postponement of the final year exams.
The Bench earlier issued contempt notice to the varsity and its officers for withholding material information from the court and trying to mislead the court over the postponement of the open book exams (OBE), which was first scheduled on July 1 to July 10.
It has clubbed a bunch of petitions filed by final year students over the holding of the OBE which will be heard together.
On Wednesday, a lawyer for one of the petitioner said he received over 500 mails from students, many of whom were suffering from mental trauma due to the repeated postponement of exams.
The petitioners also raised the issue of difficulty in pursuing postgraduate studies in foreign universities, including the U.S. and the U.K., as transcripts had to be submitted by end of July or early August.
They highlighted that several students were unable to access the portal of the OBE due to the crashing of the portal during mock test. The High Court was also informed that several students were themselves suffering from COVID-19 and unable to give the exams.
