New Delhi, Jul 27 (UNI) Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the University Grants Commission (UGC) on a bunch of petitions seeking a direction to quash its July 6 circular to varsities to complete final year exams by September 30.
A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, refused to stay the UGC circular but granted an early hearing on July 31 (Friday).
The bench also comprising Justices R Subhash Reddy and MR Shah will hear four petitions on July 31.
One of the petitioners - Yash Dubey, a law student, has challenged the July 7 notification of UGC which mandates final year exams in universities by Sept 30.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for Dubey, contended that this timeline was unrealistic keeping in mind the COVID19 pandemic.
Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta said we are only concerned with final year exams. There are 818 universities in India and out of this 35 have not reached final year exams. 209 have completed the exams, 394 are in the process of conducting the examination.
Advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava, appearing for another petitioner, said that today 50,000 Covid19 cases have been registered. There needs to be a stay on these guidelines till the matter is pending.
UNI XC SHK2028