Engineering students move Kerala High Court against Kerala University seeking directions to conduct supplementary exams

A petition has been filed before the Kerala High Court seeking directions to the University of Kerala to conduct supplementary exams in engineering courses for 2013-17 and 2014-18 batches and publish all pending results expeditiously ( Varun Gopal Vs State of Kerala and ors.).The petition was filed by two B.Tech students, Varun Gopal and Amal Joseph of the 2013-2017 and 2014-2018 batches from colleges earlier affiliated with the University of Kerala highlighting the difficulties faced by students with back papers who are waiting for supplementary semester exams to be conducted and their results to be published.According to the petition, the conduct of the University of Kerala in this regard "falls nothing short of a veritable violation of the Petitioners’ fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India".The petition highlighted how engineering colleges earlier affiliated to the University of Kerala got transferred to the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University in 2014. But students from the 2013-17 and 2014-18 batches are continuing under the Kerala University. There are around 500 such students whose supplementary exams are yet to be held due to which their career prospects are at stake, the petition filed through advocate Arun Samuel said. .The petitioners submitted that in 2020, supplementary exams had been scheduled to be conducted in April-May but due to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, they were postponed indefinitely.As per UGC guidelines issued at the time, universities were at liberty to conduct exams either through online or through offline mode. It was also highlighted that certain similar situated petitioners had earlier approached the High Court citing refusal by the university in holding 3rd semester supplementary exams. The Court had then ordered that examinations be held pursuant to which the supplementary exams were conducted in 2020 itself. However, the petitioners claimed that the results of the same are yet to be published. .Moreover, they submitted that out of nine supplementary exams scheduled to be conducted in April 2021, only four have been conducted owing to the second wave of the pandemic. .The petition highlighted that according to Sub clause (ii) of Clause 5.2 of B.Tech (2013) regulations issued by the University of Kerala, “The examinations will be held for all the semesters twice in a year - March/April/May Session and Sep/Oct/Nov Session” and according to Clause 2 (iii) , “A student who could not complete the programme and pass all the examinations within 10 years since first admission to the B, Tech programme will not be allowed to continue and he/she has to quit the programme”. .According to these regulations, 84 exams ought to have been conducted as on date, out of which only 41 have been conducted, the plea said. .Further, it was also submitted that as per the regulations for students of the 2013-2017 and 2014-2018 batches, the stipulated period of 10 years will be completed by 2023 and 2024 after which they will be forced to quit the course. .The petitioners also placed reliance on the judgment of the Kerala High Court in Venu R v. University of Calicut wherein the Court had stressed the need to adhere to the academic calendar and further held that a duty is cast upon all those who are associated to co-operate in the academic matters with the avowed and significant object of protecting interests of students and thereby, interests of nation at large..The plea said that that a considerable time has been lost owing to the pandemic and any further delay in conducting the exams and publishing their results will drastically affect their career prospects. They, therefore, made the following prayers:Declare that the B.Tech(2013) Regulations are still binding on the University of Kerala where 2013-2017 and 2014-2018 batches of B. Tech students are concerned. Issue a writ of mandamus or any other writ, directing the University to conduct all the supplementary exams of semesters 1 to 8 as regards B. Tech (2013 scheme) and publish the results thereof as expeditiously as possible. Issue a writ of mandamus or any other writ, directing the University to publish all the pending results of B. Tech (2013 scheme) exams including the revaluation results of answer sheets within a reasonable time but not more than one month.