The Hindu : National : Common entrance test: hearing on July 7

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Tuesday, Jun 29, 2004

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National

Common entrance test: hearing on July 7

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI, JUNE 28. The Supreme Court will hear on July 7 a petition filed by the All-India Medical and Engineering Colleges Association seeking permission to conduct an all-India common entrance test for filling the seats under the `management quota' in medicine, engineering and other professional courses.

A vacation Bench, comprising Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice P. Venkatarama Reddi, before whom the petition came up for hearing last week, posted it for hearing on July 7.

The association president, T.D. Naidu, said in the petition that over 1,000 private unaided self-financing professional colleges in the country had joined together to form the association, the purpose of which was to cater to the growing needs of deserving candidates beyond the boundaries of the State for filling seats under the management quota for 2004-2005 through an all-India common entrance test.

The petitioner submitted that the Supreme Court had in the Islamic Academy of Education case recognised State-level common entrance tests for management quota and this principle had been extended to have a national-level examination for admission to professional colleges by avoiding multiple entrance tests.

The association had intimated the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the Medical Council of India and other competent authorities that it intended to hold a national-level entrance test. While the process of issuing application forms for the test was midway through the AICTE informed the Association that only the University Grants Commission was competent enough to conduct a national-level entrance test and that the proposed common entrance test by the association was not in accordance with the apex court judgment.

The petitioner contended that such a denial in respect of private unaided colleges under the management quota was a clear violation of the principle enunciated by the apex court and a clear infringement of their rights under Articles 14, 19 (1) (g), 21, 26 and 30 (1) of the Constitution.

The impugned regulations directly interfered with the rights of the member- colleges to admit students of their choice on all-India basis since they received no aid from the Government or any agency. Further, it amounted to forcing the member-colleges to forcibly surrender their total process of selection and their right of admitting students under the management quota. Hence the petition.

The petitioner sought a direction to the Centre, AICTE, UGC and other admitting agencies to approve the common test to be conducted by the Association in July for admitting students under the management quota and an interim stay of the regulations issued by the UGC and the consequent order passed by the AICTE.

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