Maharashtra University Exams 2020: UGC says state govt has no power to cancel exams

Opposing Maharashtra government’s decision of cancelling all final year examinations across all varsities in the state, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has told the Bombay High Court on July 24 that the state government does not have the power to make such declaration. The Commission told the court that according to the rules of the final year examinations, the power to cancel all final year exams lies with the regulator instead. Under the Epidemic Diseases Act and Disaster Management Act, the state government had announced the cancellation of all final year examinations in state universities as the coronavirus contagion has continued to tighten its grip on the state for several months now. 

Despite the announcement of the Maharashtra government, a petition was filed by Dhananjay Kulkarni, a retired teacher and former member of the university senate from Pune challenging that the decision of cancelling exams altogether. It was in response to this petition that an affidavit was filed. UGC has challenged the state government’s decision saying that such acts or statuses can not be imposed to  "render the statutory provisions of another special Act such as The University Grants Commissioner Act nugatory".

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Maha govt contradicted UGC guidelines

The decision made by the Maharashtra government came in contradiction of the guidelines issued by the UGC on April 29 and July 6 that asked all universities and educational institutions to conduct the examinations by September end. The Commission’s guidelines came after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs allowed the exams to be conducted by the universities. Thus, in a bid to ensure the health safety of the student and teachers, the UGC has issued a list of precautionary measures while also keeping in mind the relevance of the exams. 

UGC has also said in its affidavit that Maharashtra government’s decision “to defer the final year examinations or to graduate students without holding exams would directly affect the standards of higher education in the country”. The document also asserted that the Commission was the apex body for the regulation and determining the standards of education and it also said, “All universities/institutions in the country are obligated to conduct the final year examination by the end of September 2020”.

If a student due to any reason fails to appear for the examinations, the Caffidavit said that the specific candidate is allowed to take the exams later. The guidelines by the UGC provided flexible modes for conducting the exams, whether online or offline or mixed. On April 27, the Commission had instructed all educational institutes and universities to conduct the exams. 

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(With inputs from PTI)