UGC has 48 hrs to respond to pleas filed by students and Shiv Sena's Aaditya Thackeray on exam cancellation

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave the University Grants Commission (UGC) 48 hours to respond to pleas seeking the cancellation of final term examinations in September for colleges and universities across the country.

Several students across universities and Shiv Sena MLA Aaditya Thackeray had challenged the UGC move to hold examinations during a pandemic on the ground that it was arbitrary to compel students to appear for exams during this crisis.

The students expressed fears that this would only result in a spike in Covid-19 cases.


The UGC directives had said students who were in the middle of a semester would be promoted on the basis of internal assessments but those in the final year would be promoted on the basis of examinations conducted by September. A top court bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan was hearing the pleas.