HC notice to UGC on amendment in norms for universities to run distance education courses

The Madras High Court today granted an interim six-week stay against an amendment in the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations regarding the fixing of the minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) and the consequent rejection of recognition of educational institutes.

The First Bench, comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice PT Asha, passed the order on a petition filed by the Annamalai University, Chidambaram, challenging the amended regulation, fixing the CGPA as 3.26 on a four-point scale awarded by the National Assessment Accreditation Council (NAAC) to run distance education courses.

As a prima facie case was made out, the interim stay was granted for a period of six weeks, the bench said, while issuing notice to the UGC to reply within three weeks.

According to the petitioner university, it was allowed to impart open and distance learning education till academic session 2019-20 as per the 'A' Grade accreditation awarded to it by NAAC for scoring 3.09 out of 4 points.

Meanwhile, by amending the clause, the UGC revised the eligibility grade to 3.26 on February 6 and on June 6, rejected the recognition of the university for open and distance learning education, the petitioner said.

The UGC amendment directly affected all the universities in Tamil Nadu and the higher education secretary had also written to the UGC chairman on April 7, urging him to reconsider the decision, the petitioner had submitted.

It had also sought the court to declare the amended regulation as null and void.

The university was taken over by the Tamil Nadu government in 2013.