NO EXAM UNLESS SATISFIED THERE WILL BE NO COVID FATALITY, SC TELLS ANDHRA GOVT

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday told Andhra Pradesh it is not convinced of the precautionary measures suggested by the state for holding Class 12 board exams and said unless satisfied that there will be no fatality due to Covid, it will not allow them.

The apex court said it may also look into the aspect of compensation in case of a fatality like in many other states where ₹1 crore is given for the death due to Covid-19.

A special bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari, which posed tough questions to the Andhra Pradesh government on its decision to hold Class 12 board examinations, asked the standing counsel for the state Mahfooz A Nazki to place before the court the “snapshot of the file” giving reasons to hold the test.

“We are not satisfied with the precautionary measures you will be taking for holding the exams. We are not convinced with the mechanism you have devised. Unless we are satisfied that you are able to conduct the examination without any fatality, we will not allow you to hold the examination,” the bench said.

“We have to see the aspect of compensation in case of any fatality during the examination. Some States have given ₹1 crore compensation for death due to Covid. We can look at things through that aspect,” it said. The top court is hearing a plea seeking directions to state governments not to hold board exams in view of the pandemic.

During the hearing, the top court flagged its specific concern over accommodating 519,510 students in classrooms for the exams.