Panjab University has decided against conducting an entrance exam for the five-year integrated law course run by its University Institute of Legal Studies (UILS) in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier, the Punjab and Haryana high court had asked the varsity to reconsider its decision to scrap the exam for the 2020-21 session and take a decision by September 15.
In line with the court’s directions, PU on Tuesday uploaded the compliance report, along with the proceedings of the panel, which was constituted after the HC order, on its website.
According to the report, the panel, comprising UILS director and three other members, in its meeting on September 9 resolved that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, PU will not be able to conduct the entrance test for over 7,000 candidates.
Varsity’s August 11 decision to scrap the law entrance in view of Covid-19 outbreak was challenged by two aspirants Navya Raj and Saurav Rao. They had argued that the premise not to hold the entrance was not valid when PU was conducting exams for other courses.
Class 12 marks as a sole criterion for determining the suitability of a candidate for admission to the course will neither be reasonable nor reliable, they had contended.
Panel’s Observations
The panel observed that there were approximately 7,000 applications for admission to the BA/BCom-LL.B (Hons) 5-year integrated course. Therefore, it will be difficult for the university to find an agency in a short span of time to conduct the entrance test with social distancing and precautionary measures as prescribed by the Government of India.
As such, the panel members unanimously resolved against holding the exam in the interest of the students.
Besides, the members also concurred that holding the exam online was not technically feasible due to unavailability of technologies and solutions that can ensure transparency and fairness in the examinations.
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