Supreme Court Refuses To Postpone GATE 2022, Says It Will ‘Create Chaos’
Mumbai: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to postpone the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering 2022 (GATE 2022) which is scheduled to be held on the 5th, 6th, 12th and 13th of February.
A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana, Justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli made the remarks while hearing a petition seeking an interim stay on GATE 2022.
“The postponement of the exam will create chaos and uncertainty among the students…can’t play with students’ careers,” the apex court stated.
GATE is an exam that tests the understanding of various undergraduate subjects in engineering and science for admission and recruitment to the postgraduate programs by some PSUs. It is stated that nine lakh students are appearing for the examination at 200 centres and the authorities have not issued any COVID-appropriate guidelines for conducting the examination.
“The petition for postponement of the GATE exam, barely 48 hours before the scheduled date on February 5, 2022, is motivated by a trend of chaos and uncertainty in the lives of students who have registered for the exam. There is no comprehensive reason that this Court, in the exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 32 of the Constitution, should remove the duties and functions of the regulatory authorities who have decided to conduct the examination,” the Bench stated in its order while dismissing the pleas.
Advocates Pallav Mongia and Satpal Singh, appearing for the petitioners, requested for postponement of the examination, the apex court said, adding that it cannot start posting the examination in this manner.
“Now everything is opening up in the country. We cannot play with the careers of the students. It is a matter of academic policy and these matters should be examined by them. It is very dangerous for the court to enter into this arena,” it observed.
Two petitions are filed in the issue – one by the students/candidates appearing for the GATE 2022 Exam – and another one a PIL on behalf of Umesh Dhande who runs an education institute that mentors students for GATE and other exams.
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