Post SC verdict on final year exams, BJP asks Maharashtra govt to apologise to students

On Friday, BJP MLA Ashish Shelar urged the Uddhav Thackeray-led government to apologise to final year university students for allegedly misleading them. This comes after the Supreme Court refused to quash the UGC guidelines to hold final year exams as sought by numerous petitioners including Yuva Sena. For several months, the Maharashtra government has remained steadfast on its decision not to conduct exams amid the increasing number of COVID-19 cases.

Taking a veiled dig at the Maharashtra CM's son Aaditya Thackeray, Shelar alleged that the MVA government decided to oppose exams due to the insistence of a "young and arrogant" Minister. He opined that none of the stakeholders including Vice-Chancellors, education experts, and the Governor were taken into confidence. Warning the state government not to harm the interests of the students, the BJP leader called for final year exams to be held by September-end as mandated by the UGC. Currently, there are 1,78,561 active COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra while 5,31,563 patients have been discharged and 23,444 fatalities have been reported. 

BJP MLA Ashish Shelar remarked, "The honourable SC has given its verdict. It upheld the UGC guidelines. Now, it is not possible for the state government to pass the students without final year exams. We want to ask the government- why did you play with the final year students in the last few months? We repeatedly said that we have to not just worry about their health but also their education. You took this decision because of a young and arrogant minister due to which you had to bite the dust. You didn’t talk to the Governor, Vice-Chancellors, and education experts and took a unilateral decision. You should apologise to the students for misleading them. We are warning you that don’t play with the interests of the students in the future. Conduct exams on time."

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The SC's order on final year exams

Earlier in the day, a three-judge SC bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and MR Shah ruled that the states and universities cannot promote final year students without holding exams. At the same time, the apex court clarified that the decision of the concerned state governments to not hold exams by September 30 shall supersede the UGC guidelines. This implies that the state governments which have ruled out conducting exams can request the UGC to extend the September 30 deadline. This request shall be considered by the UGC and the rescheduled date will be communicated to the respective state governments at the earliest. 

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