The Maharashtra government does not have the authority to cancel final year university exams amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the University Grants Commission (UGC) reportedly told the Bombay High Court, on Friday, 24 July.
According to The Indian Express, UGC told the court that the power to do that lies with the regulator.
The UGC, in an affidavit in response to a PIL filed by a retired professor, insisted that the government resolution to cancel exams should be set aside and quashed. It also said that cancelling final year exams would directly impact the standards of higher education in India, the report added.
The UGC, in two separate guidelines, had asked all universities to conduct exams by the end of September 2020, reported NDTV.
The UGC, reportedly, asserted that the guidelines were issued after the Home Ministry had permitted the same, and that the Maharashtra government’s decision was in contradiction to the guidelines.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on 31 July, the report added.
(With inputs from The Indian Express and NDTV.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)