The Kerala high court has declined to interfere with the state government’s decision to conduct plus one exams.
Covid-19 pandemic is here to stay and life must go on, the court said. Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V considered a batch of petitions filed by students seeking a directive to cancel the plus one final exams in view of the ongoing pandemic.
Though the students had contended that the decision was taken by the government without much deliberation and without any concern for the health of the students, the court did not agree with such a view.
Opposing the plea, the government informed the court that the decision to conduct the exams was taken after considering all the aspects and after discussion with experts in the sector of education. It was also pointed out by the government that if the conduct of the exams is interfered with at this stage, it would affect the whole admission process and it would go affect the interest of the entire student community.
Students only need to answer half of the questions to get full marks as per the scheme devised now, the court was informed. The court noticed that the students would be offered double the number of questions as per the scheme and the students have to answer only half of them. Such a step would ensure that the students will not have much difficulty, the court said, adding that it would not put undue strain on the students but would still allow the examination process to be conducted.
Interference by the court is only warranted when the government’s decision is without sufficient reason or one with malafides, the court said, while holding that the government’s decision was taken in good faith and is therefore immune from judicial review.
