How prepared are common service centres for varsity final-year exams, asks HC

The Delhi High Court on Friday sought to know how prepared the Common Service (CSE) centres were. The centres were set up to facilitate the exams of Delhi University’s

The Delhi High Court on Friday sought to know how prepared the Common Service (CSE) centres were. The centres were set up to facilitate the exams of Delhi University’s final-year students who lacked the infrastructure to appear for online Open Book Exams (OBE). The high court simultaneously posted the pleas challenging the University Grants Commission’s direction to conduct the exams for a later date after it was informed that the Supreme Court would be hearing similar matters.

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Justice Pratibha M Singh, during the hearing, also issued a notice to the owner of CSE Academy to appear on July 27 and inform the court about the preparedness of the centres for both mock tests and main exams. CSE Academy has been engaged by the Ministry of Electronics and Technology and has an agreement with the Delhi University.

Justice Prathiba M Singh also asked the academy owner to provide the list of centres where the Delhi University final exams will be held. She also asked senior advocate Sachin Datta (ADVOCATE FOR WHOM?) to find out whether a private party or organisation has also been engaged to help conduct the exams.

The high court was hearing a plea challenging Delhi University’s decision to hold OBE, as per the UGC guidelines, for final-year undergraduate students.

At the outset of the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was representing the University Grants Commission (UGC), told the court that various petitions challenging the UGC guidelines for final-year exams in central universities had been listed before the Supreme Court on Thursday and were likely to be listed again on July 27.

He urged that these petitions be taken up for hearing after the apex court hearing. Following this, the court posted the matter for further hearing on July 30.

Advocate Apoorv Kurup, appearing for UGC, submitted a report by a UGC committee headed by professor RC Kuhad on the final guidelines for the examination.

Earlier this week, the high court had asked UGC to clarify if final-year examinations could be conducted using Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ), open choice questions, assignments and presentations, instead of long-form exams.