The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : High Court to hear petitions against admission policy on June 22

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 16, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

High Court to hear petitions against admission policy on June 22

Special Correspondent

"Government cannot scrap the CET and the improvement examination after declaring the results"

CHENNAI: Expressing the Madras High Court's resolve to expeditiously dispose of the writ petitions challenging the State Government's new admission policy for professional courses, the First Bench posted all related matters for hearing on June 22. Writ petitions filed in the Madurai bench of the court would also be heard together.

After senior counsel Nalini Chidambaram mentioned that she was moving a fresh public interest litigation petition on the matter, Chief Justice Markandey Katju asked the Government Pleader to prepare counter-affidavits and serve them at least one day earlier on counsel for the petitioner-students.

"Quick decision"

"Students must know where they stand. Whether the order is valid or invalid will be decided very quickly. And if they are still aggrieved, they are free to move the Supreme Court for appropriate relief," he observed.

Mr. Justice Katju cautioned Government advocates as well as those representing the students against taking any adjournment on June 22, when the hearing is scheduled to commence. He reiterated that the judgment would be delivered "very expeditiously" as career prospects of a large number of students were at stake.

Then the Bench, comprising Mr. Justice Katju and Justice F.M. Ibrahim Kalifulla, directed the Registry to post all matters before the First Bench. "It is made clear that the matter will not be adjourned on that date," they said.

Plea turned down

Earlier, Mrs. Chidambaram, appearing for Dilagamari of Tiruvanmiyur, wanted the court to direct Anna University to release two rank lists — the usual list, which takes into account the student's marks in the Plus Two examination as well as the common entrance test (CET), and the other based only on Plus Two examination marks. This would give the exact number of rural students affected and benefited by the abolition of the existing scheme of admission. The Bench, however, did not accede the plea.

The petitioner, who wrote the entrance examination again to improve her earlier marks and entered the zone of consideration for a medical seat this year, said the Government could not scrap the common entrance test and the improvement examination after the examinations were conducted and the results declared.

Referring to the Medical Council of India regulations, Ms. Dilagamari said students qualifying from different streams such as the Central Board of Secondary Education and the State Board should be assessed by a common entrance test for the purpose of uniformity.

"The impugned order does not have any provision for neutralisation of marks or scaling of marks for any category," she said, and added that it was ultra vires the mandatory regulations under the Medical Council Act, 1956.

She refuted the State Government's reasoning that the abolition of the CET and the improvement examination would benefit rural students.

"To improve the performance of rural students, the quality of education in rural schools has to be improved," she said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu