Plea Challenging The Choice Based Credit System For School Of Open Learning, Delhi HC Directs Delhi University To File Affidavit [Read Order]

The Single Bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh has further directed the Delhi University to take a stand on whether a committee was appointed to cure the defects in the course material.

The order has come in a writ petition filed by some of the students of SOL who seek quashing of the CBCS mode of evaluation due to defects in course material, and seeks holding of annual examinations instead.

The case of the Petitioners is that the hard copies of proper course material having not been provided either for the first semester or for the second semester and the course material which has been uploaded containing several defects, it is virtually impossible for SOL students to give the examinations and to upload the answer sheets by 11th July, 2020.

At the outset, the court took note of the fact that by an order dated 27/02/20, the Delhi University was directed to file a counter-affidavit in this matter but the same has not been filed till date.

Petitioners are aggrieved by the fact that the SOL is meant to cater to students who come from various sections of society and a large majority of students, who avail of the courses belong to the under-privileged sections.

It is therefore submitted that the SOL used to have annual examinations at the end of the academic year till last year. However, after the students had sought admission for the academic year 2019-2020 into the SOL, the CBCS system was approved, by the SOL Staff Council and thereafter confirmed by the SOL Executive Council.

However, the Petitioner argued that the syllabus for the various subjects and the course material, which has to be supplied in hard copies, was not made available to the students.

'The manner in which the SOL has been functioning shows that there was no preparation whatsoever since inception to prepare the course material. Even the syllabus was not ready', the Petitioners argued.

The Petitioners also submitted that SOL and DU have violated the regulations of the University Grants Commission and the same can amount to their recognition being revoked.

In light of this, the court has asked the Delhi University as to whether it is willing to shift back to the annual-mode examination for the academic year 2019-20 and introducing the semester system with the CBCS material only after adequate preparations are made for the same.

The court has also directed that the students shall not be compelled to meet the deadline of July 11 for uploading the answer sheets till the further orders of this court.

The Petitioner in this case was represented by Mr Siddharth Seem and Mr Arun Kasi.

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[Read Order]