UGC Final Year Exams: Can Both Offline & Online Options Be Given For Students? Karnataka HC Asks VTU

The High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday asked the Visvesaraya Technical University (VTU) if both online and offline options can be given to students for taking final year examinations as per the directives of the University Grants Commission (UGC).

A single bench of Justice Sunil Datt Yadav asked the counsel for the VTU to get instructions on this query and respond by 1.30 PM today.

The hearing of the case has been passed over till 1.30 PM today.

Advocate Bhargav Bhatt, appearing for the petitioners-students, submitted that they were seeking the option of exams through online mode as well.

He pointed out that the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Human Resources Development provide for the option of online exams.

"Not once VTU has said why it has decided to hold offline exams only. The current situation in Karnataka is not conducive. Travel is a problem, stay is a problem. 14-day home quarantine is mandated", Bhatt submitted.

The counsel for VTU cited practical difficulties in holding online exams.

"There are 70,000 students who will be appearing for exams and around 1 lakh students who have backlog will be appearing. The first issue will be the distribution of exam papers. Second will be who will monitor the students who opted for online exams", he submitted.

Bhatt sought to counter these submissions by saying that 95% of the students took internal exams via online mode only.

Report of the hearing in the afternoon session: Why Online Option For Exams Can't Be Given When Viva Was Done Online?, Karnataka HC Asks VTU