High Court disposed of three writ petitions challenging a Government Order that declared students passed by mere fee payment during the pandemic. The Court observed that examinations were subsequently notified and conducted, negating the automatic right to pass without appearing for prescribed examinations.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED:22.10.2021
CORAM :
THE HON'BLE MR.SANJIB BANERJEE, CHIEF JUSTICE
AND
THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE P.D.AUDIKESAVALU W.P.Nos.16213, 12370 and 12612 of 2020
WP No.16213 of 2020
B.Ramkumar Adityan
..Petitioner
Vs
1 Principal Secretary Higher Education Department Government of Tamil Nadu Chennai-600 009.
3 The Registrar Anna University Guindy Chennai- 600 025.
6 The Registrar Alagappa University Karaikudi- 630 003.
| 8 | The Registrar |
|---|---|
| Bharathidasan University Thiruchirappalli- 620 024. |
|
| 9 |
The Registrar Bharathiyar University Coimbatore- 641 046. |
| 10 |
The Registrar Madurai Kamaraj University Madurai- 625 021. |
| 11 |
The Registrar Manonmaniam Sundaranar University Tirunelveli- 627 012. |
| 12 |
The Registrar Mother Teresa Women University Tirunelveli- 627 012. |
| 13 |
The Registrar Periyar University Salem- 636 011. |
| 14 |
The Registrar Tamil University Thanjavur- 613 010. |
| 15 |
The Registrar Thiruvalluvar University Serkadu Vellore- 632 115. ...Respondents |
| Pra Ind Res Pap |
yer: Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of ia for issuance of a Writ of Mandamus forbearing the pondents No.3 to 15 to announce and publish result of Arrears er of students without undergoing examination for Arrears |
| Pap con Not |
er and Consequently direct the Respondents No. 3 to 15 to duct Arrears Examination by issuing Fresh Examination ification within stipulated time and Pass. |
| For the Petitioner : Mr.S.Sankar |
|
| For the Respondents : Mrs.R.Anitha, Government Advocate for the first respondent |
|
| Mrs.V.Sudha, Standing Counsel, for the second respondent |
Mr.M.Vijayakumar, for the third respondent Mr.Karthik Rajan, Senior Standing counsel, for the fourth respondent Mr.L.P.Shanmugasundaram, for respondents 5 and 9 Mr.Godson Swaminathan, for M/s.Isaac Chambers, for respondents 6, 7, 10, 13 & 14 Mr.V.Govardhan, for M/s.Row and Reddy, for the eight respondent Mr.M.C.Swamy, for the 15th respondent No appearance for respondents 11 and 12
WP No.12612 of 2020 Prof Dr.E.Balaguruswamy ...Petitioner Vs 1 The Principal Secretary Department of Higher Education Government of Tamilnadu Fort St.George Chennai - 600009 2 The Member Secretary All India Council for technical Education (AICTE) Nelson Mandela Marg New Delhi - 110070 3 The Secretary University Grant Commission Bahadhurshah Zafar marg New Delhi 4 The Secretary Ministry of Human Resource Department Shastri Bhavan New Delhi
5 Karthick Balaji
(R5 IMPLEADED VIDE ORDER DT 29.10.20 ...Respondents
Prayer: Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of a Writ of Certiorari calling for records relating to impugned G.O.No.125 dated 26.08.2020 issued by the 1st respondent and quash the same as illegal Arbitrary unconstitutional and pass.
For the Petitioner : Mr.E.Vijay Anand For the Respondents : Mrs.R.Anitha, Government Advocate for the first respondent Mrs.AL.Gandhimathi for the second respondent
Mrs.V.Sudha, Standing Counsel, for the third respondent
No appearance for respondents 4 and 5
WP No.12370 of 2020
B.Ramkumar Adityan ...Petitioner
Vs
1 The Secretary Department of Higher Education Ministry of Education No 122/c Shastri Bhavan New Delhi 110 001
2 Principal Secretary Higher Education Department Govt of Tamil Nadu chennai-9
3 The Chairman University Grants Commission Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg New Delhi- 110002
4 The Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education, Nelson Mandla Marg, Vasanthkunj, New Delhi- 110070 ...Respondents
Prayer: Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus calling for the records with respect to the Govt order (D) No 125 of Higher Education (k2) department dated 26.8.2020 of the Respondent No 2 Uploaded in the website of the 2nd Respondent and quash the same as illegal and subsequently direct the Respondent No 2 to conduct examination for Arrear Papers for all students as per guidelines dated 29.4.2020 and 6.7.2020 of the 4th Respondent.
For the Petitioner : Mr.S.Sankar
For the Respondents : Mrs.R.Anitha, Government Advocate for the second respondent
Mrs.V.Sudha, Standing Counsel, for the third respondent Mrs.AL.Gandhimathi for the fourth respondent
No appearance for respondent 1
COMMON ORDER
The Petitioners in these public interest litigation ventilate the grievance that students who have undergone the final year of various courses of study during the academic year 2019-2020 in Universities and other collegiate institutions across the State of Tamil Nadu have been declared to have passed and successfully completed without appearing for the prescribed examination by the impugned order issued by the Government of Tamil Nadu in G.O.No.125, Higher Education Department dated 26.08.2020, on merely remitting fees taking undue advantage of the COVID pandemic situation.
and by an order dated August 28, 2020 therein, directions have been given as to the manner in which the passing of examination and successful completion of courses of study by the students would have to be dealt with.
s/dAssistant Registrar(CS VI)
True Copy
Sub-Assistant Registrar tar
To:
Chennai-600 009.
| 3 | The Registrar |
|---|---|
| Anna University | |
| Guindy Chennai- 600 025. | |
| 4 |
The Registrar Tamil Nadu Dr.Ambedkar Law Universirty No.5. Dr. D.G.S.Dinakaran Salai Chennai- 600 0028. |
| 5 |
The Registrar University of Madras Chepauk Triplicane Chennai- 600 005. |
| 6 |
The Registrar Alagappa University Karaikudi- 630 003. |
| 7 |
The Registrar Annamalai University Chidambaram- 608 002. |
| 8 |
The Registrar Bharathidasan University Thiruchirappalli- 620 024. |
| 9 |
The Registrar Bharathiyar University Coimbatore- 641 046. |
| 10 |
The Registrar Madurai Kamaraj University Madurai- 625 021. |
| 11 |
The Registrar Manonmaniam Sundaranar University Tirunelveli- 627 012. |
| 12 |
The Registrar Mother Teresa Women University Tirunelveli- 627 012. |
| 13 |
The Registrar Periyar University Salem- 636 011. |
| 14 | The Registrar |
| Tamil University | |
| Thanjavur- 613 010. |
| 15 |
The Registrar Thiruvalluvar University Serkadu Vellore- 632 115. |
|---|---|
| 16 |
The Member Secretary All India Council for technical Education (AICTE) Nelson Mandela Marg New Delhi - 110070 |
| 17 |
The Secretary Ministry of Human Resource Department Shastri Bhavan New Delhi |
| 18 |
The Secretary Department of Higher Education Ministry of Education |
| No. 122/C Shastri Bhavan | |
| New Delhi 110 001 | |
| 19 |
The Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education, |
| Nelson Mandla Marg, Vasanthkunj, New Delhi- 110070 |
|
| 20 |
. The Secretary Universirty Grants Commission Bahadhurshah Zafar Marg, New Delhi |
| +1 | CC to The Government Pleader sr 55010. |
| +1 | CC to Ms.V. Sudha, Advocate sr 54288 |
| +1 | CC to Mr.M.Vijayakumar, Advocate sr 54803. |
| +1 | CC to M/s. Isaac Chambers, sr 54557 |
| +1 | CC to Mr.E.Vijay Anand, advocate sr 54339 |
| +1 | CC to M/s. Row and Reddy, Advocate sr 54291. |
W.P.Nos.16213, 12370 and 12612 of 2020
SJ(CO) SP(01/11/2021)
3 issues framed by the court
Whether students can be declared passed without appearing for prescribed examinations merely by remitting fees during the COVID period.
Whether the impugned Government Order G.O.No.125 dated 26.08.2020 confers an automatic right to pass without examination.
Whether the directions of the Supreme Court in Praneeth K case have been complied with by conducting arrear examinations.
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
Praneeth.K vs University Grants CommissionReferred¶45
Praneeth.K -vs- University Grants Commission (UGC) (Writ Petition (Civil) No.724 of 2020)
B.Ramkumar Adityan
Prof Dr.E.Balaguruswamy
Government of Tamil Nadu
University Grants Commission
Anna University
Sanjib Banerjee
P.D.Audikesavalu
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
