 The University Grants Commission UGC has told the top court that the final examination is a crucial step in the academic career of a student and the state government cannot say that its July 6 directive, asking universities and colleges to conduct final year examinations by September 30 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, was not binding. A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and M R Shah has started final hearing through video conferencing on a batch of petitions challenging the UGCs decision to hold the final university examinations. 