Bhubaneswar: Observing that delaying exams may cause ‘chaos and uncertainty’ among aspirants, the Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed petitions seeking postponement of Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE 2022) exams amid the ongoing COVID pandemic.
The exams will now be held in the physical mode as per the existing schedule on February 5, 6, 12, and 13.
Earlier, about 11 GATE candidates had moved the apex court with an appeal to instruct the central government and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur—which organises the exam every year—to defer the exam dates in view of the spike in Covid cases across the country.
According to sources, a Bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath observed that taking any action on the PILs barely 48 hours prior to the exam would lead to uncertainty.
“The plea for postponement of GATE 2022 examination barely 48 hours before the scheduled date on Feb 5 is replete with the potential for chaos and uncertainty in the lives of students who have been preparing. There is no overarching reason why this court should under Article 32 to supplant the role of authorities. Consistent with circumspection which this court must exercise in academic pleas, these petitions are accordingly,” the Court ordered, as per excerpts published by Bar and Bench.
According to reports, the bench also stated that the court ‘couldn’t play with the careers of students.’ It was also highlighted that thousands of students had been preparing for the exam, but the online petition had been signed by only 20,000 candidates.
Earlier, IIT Kharagpur had released a ‘travel pass’ for the candidates, considering the fact that COVID restrictions were still imposed in different states. The pass, which can be downloaded from its website, will help students to reach their respective exam centres sans any hassle.
Notably, students had also filed an online petition titled ‘Postpone GATE 2022 exam date due to COVID-19 3rd wave’. Over 60,000 students had given their consent to the petition. Some students had also taken to social media, seeking postponement of the exam.
