COVID-19: Allahabad HC asks Lucknow University to consider students plea against holding exams

Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court on Friday asked Lucknow University authorities to consider a plea by their students to cancel the upcoming varsity examinations amid the COVID-19 pandemic and promote students en masse to their next classes.

A Lucknow bench of the high court asked the varsity to decide on the students' plea while directing students to make a representation to the university with their petitions which they had filed earlier in the high court.

A bench of Justice Saurabh Lavania passed the order on the petition filed by a group of 23 students of the university.

The petition, filed by one Jatin Katiyar and 22 other students of the varsity, had also demanded en masse promotion of students to next classes amid the COVID-disrupted academic session of the varsity.

The petition, challenging the varsity's June 19 & 23 notifications, scheduling various examinations, was listed for hearing on Friday.

In the petition, the students had argued that the examination controller issued the schedule without going through the effect of COVID-19 due to which trains are not running properly, and varsity students, who had to return to their home towns and other far off places in the state amid the pandemic, we're unable to reach the city.

"The students will have to look for new accommodations and it would be almost impossible to maintain social distancing in hostels," the petition had said.

The petitioners had also pleaded that three professors and some staff of the varsity were found coronavirus-infected and hence there would be a high risk of spread of infection in the campus.

The students had also questioned the success of online classes by the university.

Citing examples of IIT, Kanpur and Delhi University and other institutions, the petitioners had also sought the court's direction to the university to either promote students en masse to next classes or consider holding online examinations, keeping in consideration the availability of internet and laptop to students.