[BREAKING] Delhi HC gives nod to Online open book examination (OBE) for Delhi University final year students

The Delhi High Court today gave its nod to the conduction of online open book examination for final year students of Delhi University. (Anupam & Ors vs University of Delhi & Ors.).The online OBE is set to begin from Monday, August 10. .The order was pronounced by a Single Judge Bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh in the petition preferred by students of Delhi University..The Court has directed Delhi University and UGC to comply with the directions passed in the order..Directions to Delhi University include the following: - Question paper to be uploaded on portal and sent to students' email ID. - Regular students shall be given the complete three hours for answering the question papers. Students to be given extra hour for uploading the answer sheet. - Students under PWD category are given one more hour for downloading the question paper, completing their answers and uploading the answer sheets i.e., a total of six hours.- Students can scan the answer sheets page by page or question wise and upload the same on the DU portal within the 7MB limit or convert their answer sheets into PDF files either question wise or in entirety and e-mail the same to the central email address and/or to the respective college/department/faculty email.- Auto generated email to be sent confirming receipt of the answer sheet.- Details of Nodal officer, Central Email ID to be published. - Common Service Centre to notify all its centres by the end of the day. - There shall be grievance officer to address the issues raised by the students. In case of a non-redressal, complaint to be forwarded to the Grievance Committee. - Grievance Committee reconstituted under the aegis of Justice (retd) Pratibha Rani.- Grievance Committee to function till OBE continues, complaints to be addressed within 5 days. - The uploaded answer sheets of students shall be simultaneously sent for evaluation to the respective teachers/faculty to ensure that declaration of results is not delayed in any manner.- OBE results ought to be announced in a short period..Issues of privacy of data and storing of data will be considered at a later stage after pleadings in the case are complete. .While steering away from challenging the UGC guidelines which have made it compulsory for educational institutions to confuct a "time-bound" examination for final year students, the Petitioners had vehemently argued that OBE was in violation of their rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 16 and 21 of the Constitution of India. .Delhi HC hears plea by DU students on open book examinations for final-year students in the PwD category [LIVE UPDATES].Advocate Akash Sinha, counsel for the Petitioners had contended that the OBE, in its present form, was discriminatory qua students who had no cyber infrastructure/resources or were stuck in COVID-19 quarantine zones or flooded areas. .Reference was also made to other universities such as NLU Delhi and JNU which gave more than 24 hours to its students to write the examination..Counsel for the Intervenor students, Advocate Shivankar Sharma had submitted that the decision to conduct OBE was arbitrary, without any application of mind and infringed upon the data privacy of students. .Defending DU's decision, Senior Advocate Sachin Dutta and Advocate M Rupal argued that in view of the UGC guidelines, OBE was the best way forward and a student need not have very high technology at his/her disposal to sit for the examination. .Delhi HC to hear on Friday arguments on whether online open-book examination can be permitted for final year DU students [LIVE UPDATES].DU submitted that since the decision to conduct OBE was taken by very senior academicians and experts, as a rule of prudence, the court should not interfere in the academic sphere..The Court was assured that the process had inbuilt safeguards, including availability of Common Service Centres for students with no cyber infrastructure, grievance committee and helplines, and that the students would always have the option to sit for physical examination which would be conducted in September 2020. .Order in the challenge was reserved by the Court on Wednesday. .In its 45-page order passed today, the Court said,.This Court is mindful of the fact that enormous preparations have now been undertaken by students for giving the online OBE. Under such circumstances, the Court is concerned about the manner in which the processes in the online OBE can be further streamlined.Delhi High Court.Relying on its own findings and the orders passed by Divison Bench of the High Court, the Court noted that apprehensions with respect to the smooth conduct of online OBE, evaluation and declaration of results were not completely unfounded. .The Court noticed that the availability of CSCs was also under a cloud and the marks for which students have to be evaluated have not been reduced. It further took judicial notice of the fact that internet connectivity was not stable at all times. .Thus, to ensure smooth conduction of OBE, the Court issued a slew of directions to Delhi University. .At the end of the OBE examinations a comprehensive report of the conduct of examinations shall be submitted by DU, within four weeks..[DU OBE] Delhi HC orders DU to ensure scribes at CSC, provide reading material to visually impaired students.The issue of DU's preparedness to conduct the examination and safeguards for PWD category students is the subject matter of petitions pending before the Division Bench headed by Justice Hima Kohli. .Read the Judgement: