Aaditya Thackeray moves SC against the decision of the centre to hold final-year examinations

Aaditya Thackeray, Shiv Sena MLA, moved the Supreme Court on Saturday, July 18, against the decision of the centre to hold final year exams for colleges and universities in September, after they were postponed from earlier this year due to the outbreak of the pandemic and the coronavirus induced lockdown. The petition has been filed by the Yuva Sena, which is the youth wing of the ruling Shiv Sena and is led by Aaditya Thackeray.

The Union Home Ministry had earlier given permission for the university examinations to be conducted as per the guidelines of UGC. Taking to Twitter, Thackeray slammed the Human Resources Ministry after the UGC announced that final year exams would be held later this year. He termed the decision "absurd and from an alternate universe". Furthermore, Thackeray stated that the quality of education cannot be determined with a single examination. Therefore, students can be graded based on the average marks in the previous session, and for those who would like to take the exam, it can be rearranged after the coronavirus crisis is over.  

The decision of the HRD Ministry of Union Govt, and the UGC is absolutely absurd and probably from an alternate universe. I urge UGC to not make this a silly issue of egos and realise that lakhs of lives of students, teachers, non teaching staff are at stake. (1/n)

— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) July 10, 2020

The Yuva Sena has time and again demanded the students to be promoted basis of the aggregate of marks scored so far in their academic year. The Maharashtra government earlier said that students looking to improve on these averages could appear for exams, but only when the examinations can be conducted safely.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) is the regulatory body for universities. It is not within the purview of the commission to take the state government into confidence. Therefore, the suggestions made by the UGC are binding on the universities as per the law. The decision to conduct the final year exams during the coronavirus outbreak has been a controversial one, with several opposition leaders, like Congress's Rahul Gandhi, against holding them this year.