HC asks DU for deadline to issue paper degrees to graduates before 2017 & this year

New Delhi:  The Delhi High Court has directed Delhi University to specify deadlines for issuance of paper degrees to students who graduated prior to 2017 as also for those who would be graduating this year.

The court said that a mechanism be devised by the varsity for issuance of online transcripts to those students who need them urgently and asked it to set out the details in an affidavit.

The court passed the order after it was informed that many students who have graduated from DU colleges prior to 2017 or even till 2019, have not received their paper degrees.

Justice Prathiba M Singh noted the online digital degree certificates, which are now been issued are monolingual, only in English, unlike the previous degree certificates which were bilingual -- both in English and Hindi.

It is ordered that both formats of the online degree certificates whether in monolingual format or bilingual format would be valid for the candidates to submit to their respective universities/ authorities in foreign countries and the present order may be used for the said purpose, the high court said.

It has listed the matter for further hearing on October 20.

Earlier, the high court had directed the DU to issue within seven working days digital degree certificates to students who have already graduated and urgently require the document for taking admission in a foreign university or for employment.

It had passed the order on a bunch of petitions, putting in place a proper procedure for issuance of degree certificates through an online mechanism to ensure that delay in printing of degree certificates does not become an impediment to students who need it.

The high court was informed that as far as online degree certificates for students who graduated prior to 2017 are concerned, DU expressed difficulty in creating an online mechanism.

According to professor D S Rawat, Dean (Examinations), printing of degrees has already been undertaken for students who graduated prior to 2017 and paper degrees have been sent to the respective colleges. However, he wished to verify the position.

The high court asked the varsity to file an affidavit confirming as to whether in respect of all students who graduated prior to 2017, paper degrees have been transmitted to the respective colleges or the students or not. After receiving confirmation of this fact, the court would pass further directions in this regard.

Regarding the paper printed degrees, the university said that an order for 14,000 degrees has been placed for the students who graduated in 2017 and gave a tentative timeline for following years.

The DU also proposed to levy Rs 1,500 fees for issuance of digital degree certificates. However, after some discussion, it said it will reconsider the decision and place it on record.

The high court had earlier said the purpose of directing issuance of the certificates digitally and through an online mechanism was to dispense with the need for physical presence of students at the university during the COVID-19 pandemic and also to streamline the process for students who are not in Delhi and need the document either for employment or for further educational purposes.