Summary
The Court upheld UGC’s revised guidelines requiring final-year and terminal-semester university examinations during the COVID-19 pandemic. They concerned educational standards, carried statutory force and violated neither Article 14 nor Article 21. State disaster-management decisions could override the 30 September 2020 deadline to protect health, but could not authorise degrees based solely on previous performance and internal assessment. States unable to meet the deadline could seek rescheduling from UGC. The writ petitions were disposed of with directions and the connected special leave petition dismissed.
Issues
- Whether UGC could require final-year examinations through binding guidelines and whether those guidelines violated Articles 14 and 21 or the consultation requirement.
- Whether disaster-management powers permitted States to postpone examinations or promote final-year students without examinations.
Provisions considered
- Section 12, University Grants Commission Act, 1956Authorised examination guidelines; consultation depended on the function concerned and did not require consultation with every university, State or disaster-management authority. (¶¶ 57, 66, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 90, 92, 93, 94)
- Seventh Schedule, List I Entry 66 and List III Entry 25, Constitution of IndiaEducational standards, including examination standards, fell within UGC’s statutory domain; contrary State decisions could not displace those standards. (¶¶ 46, 48, 49, 51, 62, 107, 109)
- Regulation 6.1, UGC (Minimum Standards of Instruction for the Grant of the Master’s Degree through Formal Education) Regulations, 2003Required universities to adopt UGC and other concerned statutory bodies’ examination guidelines. (¶¶ 66, 67)
- Articles 14 and 21, Constitution of IndiaRejected discrimination, arbitrariness and right-to-life challenges in view of the final-year distinction, flexible modes, additional opportunities and health safeguards. (¶¶ 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 78, 80, 81, 82)
- Sections 2(e), 2(i) and 72, Disaster Management Act, 2005Gave precedence to lawful disaster-prevention and mitigation measures affecting the deadline, but not to promotion decisions outside the Act’s scope. (¶¶ 98, 99, 104, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111)
Held
- UGC could prescribe standards requiring final-year examinations, which universities themselves would conduct. Modern Dental College did not exclude UGC’s competence over examination standards. The revised guidelines continued the earlier guidelines and had statutory force. (¶¶ 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 65, 66, 67)
- Final-year students were rationally distinguished from intermediate-year students. A uniform academic deadline served students’ future prospects; flexible examination modes, special chances and prescribed health safeguards defeated the Articles 14 and 21 challenges. (¶¶ 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 78, 80, 81, 82)
- Section 12 did not require consultation with every university or State before general guidelines. The statutory expression “other bodies concerned” did not mandate consultation with State disaster-management authorities or health experts; obtaining the expert committee’s report was permissible. (¶¶ 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 92, 93, 94)
- A lawful State or State Disaster Management Authority decision that examinations could not be held by 30 September 2020 prevailed over that deadline. Central permission to conduct examinations did not fetter the State’s disaster-management powers in the circumstances. (¶¶ 98, 99, 103, 104, 110, 111)
- Disaster-management powers did not extend to awarding final-year degrees without examinations on previous marks and internal assessment. Such decisions yielded to UGC’s guidelines; States or Union Territories unable to meet the deadline could apply to UGC, which was to consider and communicate rescheduled dates at the earliest. (¶¶ 107, 108, 109, 110, 111)
Result
Prayer to quash the revised UGC guidelines, MHRD memorandum and MHA letter refused. Writ petitions disposed of with directions preserving lawful postponement and requiring final examinations, with liberty to seek UGC rescheduling. SLP No. 10042 of 2020 dismissed.