NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday said it is the duty of the vice-chancellor to ensure that examinations are conducted properly in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) here.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher was hearing a petition filed by a student of the Centre for Korean Studies (CKS) of JNU, seeking direction to the university to hold exams as the school was closed due to protests by students against a recent hostel fee hike.
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Central government's standing counsel Monika Arora told the court that a handful of students were preventing the teaching staff from entering CKS or reopening it to hold exams and that the latter needed police assistance.
In the interim, since December 21, the teaching staff had been e-mailing questions to the students, who had to e-mail back the answers by the night of December 23, like an open-book exam to ensure that it was not a zero semester, she said.
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Justice Shakdher referred to a recent order of another judge of the court and an order of August 2017, in which it was stated that JNU could take the assistance of police to ensure its smooth functioning.
The court said in these circumstances, it was the duty of the university's vice-chancellor to ensure that the exams were held properly and asked the head of the institution to discuss the matter with the protesting students.