Great relief for VTU students: High court orders the VTU to remove the Year Back/Carry-Over system

According to the varsity’s rules, engineering students have to clear all the subjects of the first two semesters for admission to the fifth semester

Giving relief to thousands of engineering students across the state, the High Court of Karnataka has clamped an interim stay on the controversial carry over system introduced by the Visveswaraya Technological University (VTU). According to the VTU rules, in order to become eligible for admission to the fifth semester, engineering students in non-autonomous colleges have to clear all the subjects of the first two semesters, and clear all the subjects of the fourth and fifth semester for admission to the seventh semester.
Over hundred students from Bangalore-based engineering colleges approached the HC last week against the VTU’s carry over system. While issuing the order last week, which has come as a setback to VTU, Justice A S Bopanna observed that such systems would jeopardize student’s careers.He ordered the VTU and the engineering colleges affiliated to it to admit all BE students to their respective semesters. 
Various students’ bodies and VTU officials had locked horns ever since the university introduced the carry over system for BE students two years ago. According to the system, at no stage a student can have a backlog of more than four subjects from the previous year.
Advocate for the students, S Arumugham,argued that the fresh semester starts in the first week of August and if the students are not permitted to move on, they would lose their valuable time. He said the students should be allowed to clear the pending subjects in the supplementary exams instead of studying the same semester all over again. Calling the carry over system ultra vires, the petition sought to scrap the discrimination between the autonomous and non autonomous colleges under VTU.
“The HC has also directed the colleges and VTU to conduct ‘makeup examinations’ and one supplementary examination for each year so that students can clear failed subjects within the time fixed by the HC in the interest of justice and equality.”
One of the petitioners, Deepak R, said, “It is not the victory of only Bangalore students, but that of the entire 19,000 students of VTU.”
VTU registrar Prof S A Kori said, “We have not yet received the copy of the court order. We can comment only after going through the details.”
In its , the court issued notice to VTU while at the same time making it clear that the relief granted to the students will be subject to the final disposal of the petition.
The judge noted that the interim order is being granted considering that in the last two years, many such petitions have been filed where students alleged discrimination in the carry over system.