Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday declined to stay the order of the Admission Supervisory Committee, headed by the former High Court judge P.A. Mohammed, declaring invalid the entrance test conducted by the Kerala Private Professional College Management Consortium.

Justice Siri Jagan, however, admitted the petition challenging the order and issued notice to the State Government and the Committee. When the petition came up, the counsel for the petitioner sought stay of the committee's order

The court said the petitioner can approach the Government for interim arrangements for admission to the seats this year.

According to the consortium, which consisted of Kannur Medical College; S.U.T. College of Medicine, Thiruvananthapuram; Sree Sankar Dental College, Varkala; and Kannur Dental College, the committee had no powers to make such a declaration. In fact, the test and valuation was conducted in accordance with the directions of the committee, the petitioner contended. The observer and the invigilators appointed by the committee had reported that the test was conducted properly and that there was absolutely no discrepancy in the test. Besides, there had been no complaints or allegations regarding the conduct of the test.

The petitioner also contended that the findings of the committee were not based on any legal evidence. The order was passed without giving any opportunity of being heard.

The petitioner added that the fact that some candidates had obtained high marks was not a ground for declaring the test invalid.

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