After stream put on YouTube, HC to hear students’ case in court

The court admin was stringent in allowing entry into the virtual meetings today after what students did last time...But somehow they still got in today RAMKUMAR ADITYAN, advocate and petitioner

CHENNAI: Students on Tuesday live-streamed on the social media proceedings of a Madras high court case pertaining to the cancellation of exams in view of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, prompting judges to order that further hearings in the matter will be held physically with only lawyers in attendance.

A two-judge bench of Justices M Sathyanarayanan and R Hemalatha of the HC also warned students of contempt of court, while restraining universities from declaring that all students as passed without conducting a re-examination for those who failed in some subjects. It also sought a response from the state on its direction to that effect to universities. The next hearing on the case is on January 11.

The case pertains to an order by the Tamil Nadu government, which cited the Covid-19 outbreak and asked universities in August to cancel supplementary exams and promote all students, except for those in the final year, in the current academic session.

A batch of petitions challenged the decision, citing violation of University Grants Commission guidelines.

In earlier hearings too, scores of students entered virtual courtrooms, triggering a ruckus. “Please cancel the exams,” the students kept saying in the previous hearing on November 20.

On Tuesday, a few students first logged into the virtual court hearing and then live-streamed the entire court proceedings on YouTube. In between the proceedings, they kept requesting the court to cancel any examinations. The HC has been conducting virtual hearings via Microsoft Teams.