The Hindu : National : SC to refer plea for entrance test to larger Bench

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Wednesday, Jan 05, 2005

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SC to refer plea for entrance test to larger Bench

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI, JAN. 4 . The Supreme Court today indicated that the petition filed by the All-India Medical and Engineering Colleges Association seeking permission to conduct an All-India Common Entrance Test (AICET) for filling seats under the `management quota' in medicine, engineering and other professional courses would be referred to a larger Bench for consideration.

A Bench of Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Justice P.P. Naolekar in the meanwhile asked the Centre and the University Grants Commission to file their response on the AICET in two weeks. It said that after the response was received it would consider referring the matter to a larger Bench that would examine all aspects of admissions shortly.

When the matter was taken up today, senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the petitioner, T.D. Naidu, president of the association, submitted that the association with over 1,500 members be permitted to conduct the AICET only for the management seats as that would be in the interest of the students, who had to take different examinations in different States. The Bench said that since the matter required interpretation of the judgments in the T.M.A. Pai and Islamic Academy Foundation cases, only a larger Bench should examine it.

Counsel for the UGC submitted that it was preparing fresh guidelines for admissions across the country and sought time to file its response. Counsel for the Centre also sought time. The All-India Council for Technical Education filed its response stating that the CBSE was already conducting an all-India examination.

The association in its additional affidavit explained that none of the members of the petitioner association participated in the AIEEE held last year, as seats under the management quota in these colleges could not be filled only through the AIEEE.

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