New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday, September 3, in an interim order stayed the Kerala government's decision to hold the Class XI exam physically from Sept 6 amid rising cases of COVID-19 in the state. The class XI (Plus One) exam was scheduled to be conducted from September 6.

A bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar mentioned that situation in Kerala is alarming because of the continuing rise in coronavirus cases and kids of tender age cannot be exposed to risk while noting that around 35,000 cases are being reported daily from the state. The Bench observed, "There is alarming situation in Kerala. It accounts for more than 70 percent of cases of the country, with around 35, 000 daily cases. Kids of tender age can't be exposed to risk."

In its order, the Supreme Court court stated, "we grant interim relief staying offline exam for till next date of hearing. List this matter on September 13." The bench was hearing an appeal against the Kerala High court order refusing to interfere with the decision to hold offline exams.

Nearly 3 lakh students will take the exam scheduled to be held from September 6 and as the students pursuing class XI are largely unvaccinated, they are very exposed to the virus, argued advocate Prashant Padmanabhan appearing for Rasoolshan. During the hearing, advocate CK Sasi, appearing for the Kerala govt, defended the state govt’s decision to hold the exams offline and submitted that all safety protocols have already been taken care of.

Kerala facing acute vaccine shortage in 6 districts, mere 1.4 lakh doses left in stock

Bihar: Congress party could announce to set up its committee soon: sources

Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh hails India’s ‘pluralistic’ tradition