"Students Must Be Accommodated": SC Tells CBSE & UGC To Take Instructions On Issue Of Results & Cut-Off Dates For Admissions

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked CBSE & UGC to work in tandem and coordinate on the date of declaration of the results and cut-off date for admissions to universities respectively so that students taking compartment examinations till September 29 can avail admissions in universities.

A bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar & Sanjiv Khanna noted that these are exceptional circumstances and that both CBSE & UGC should work in coordination to accommodate students who are currently taking compartment examinations. Accordingly, the CBSE & UGC have been asked to take instructions on the issue aforementioned by September 24, Thursday.

Justice Khanwilkar to UGC Counsel: Please take instructions. Then We will direct the CBSE to ensure that the results be declared before the cut-off date.

Senior Advocate Vivek Tankha appeared for the student petitioners and argued that if the students who are taking compartment exams are unable to avail college admissions, the exams shall be a fruitless exercise.

Advocate Avishkar Singhvi told the bench that him and Advocate Tanvi Dubey had a list of colleges with their respective cut-off dates for perusal of the bench but the court said that it shall not be passing individual directions for colleges and shall instead wait for the CBSE & UGC to take a decision by Thursday, September 24.

In the present plea, petitioners are challenging the CBSE's decision to conduct compartment examination and seek revising of the cut-off dates for admissions of students of classes X and XII who are taking these exams  in September.

On the last date, Senior Advocate Vivek Tankha, appearing had submitted that generally compartment exams are held before the college admissions.

"The most important thing is that if we don't get admission in colleges after the compartment exams are done, then our entire year gets wasted", he submitted.

"I want my Lord's empathy. Create some room for them to get admission. This is their first attempt. It's not their second or third attempt", he urged. He prayed that a direction be passed to give students provisional admissions in universities.

The bench then replied that notice will have to be served on all Universities for considering such a relief. At this point, Tankha suggested that the Union of India can issue necessary directions in that regard.

Accordingly, the Court had directed that the copy of the petition be served on the Union of India.

The bench also took up the plea filed on behalf of around 2,10,000 students who were placed in the compartment category, after CBSE declared the result for the said classes, based on an alternate evaluation method, in July this year.

On September 4, a bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna had directed the CBSE to file an affidavit in reply by September 7, clearly stipulating the scheme of the examination and the way it is to be conducted amid the COVID-19 pandemic situation.

Last month, the top court had dismissed a plea seeking directions to the C.B.S.E to ensure that Petitioners and other students of class 10th and 12th in the compartment category, are not forced to appear in the compartment examination during the peak of COVID 19.