Delhi HC Issues Notice in Plea Challenging The Decision Of DU's Law Faculty To Hold Exams For Students Already Promoted To Next Semester

The Single Bench of Justice Jayant Nath has issued notices to the Faculty of Law, University Grants Commission, Bar Council of India, and the Delhi University.

Filed by some of the students of the Law Faculty, the petition challenges the notification issued on August 25 by the Faculty of Law, Delhi University, wherein it is confirmed that exams will be held for the present students of the University upon the reopening of the college.

It is argued by the Petitioners that the present notification is contrary to the guidelines and notifications issued by the UGC and the Delhi University.

As per the Petitioners, UGC and DU guidelines clearly state that the intermediate semester students for all the Undergraduate (UG) and Postgraduate (PG) courses will be evaluated on the basis of internal assessments and previous performance.

The petition states:

'The unilateral and arbitrary implementation of the impugned notifications causes undue hardships to the students. It is unjust, unfair, discriminatory and prejudicial to the interests of the concerned students as the implementation of the said notifications puts an obligation on the intermediate semester students to appear for multiple exams, on the reopening of college, inflicting undue pressure on them in these challenging times.'

It is also argued by the Petitioners that this decision has increased the workload of students manifold.

The Petitioners have contended that it is virtually impossible to gauge the time and date by when the colleges will reopen. This in turn, increases the probability for the students to be faced with 10-20 exams, increasing their chances of failing given the stringent marking scheme adopted by the Faculty of Law.

While contending that this decision creates a huge disparity between the intermediate and terminal semester students, the Petitioners argue that it is highly unequal for the said students of Faculty of Law to appear for previous semester examinations when the similarly placed students belonging to other UG and PG have been exempted from such examinations.

The Petitioners in this case are being represented by Mr Shrey Sharma.