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No compromise on merit: SC
Admission to private professional colleges
S. S. Negi
Our Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, August 15
Emphasising on maintaining professional excellence, the Supreme Court has made it clear that merit cannot be substituted by any other consideration for admission to private medical, engineering and technical institutions whether run by minorities or non-minorities.

Interpreting the 11-Judge Constitution Bench verdict on the rights of the unaided private and minority institutions, a five-Judge Bench said though the religious and linguistic minority institutions could admit students from their own community in preference to the more meritorious students from the other community, while doing so “inter-se merit of those students cannot be ignored.”

Clarifying the exact position laid down by the 11-Judge Bench in its judgement given on October 31 last year, the five-Judge Bench, headed by Mr Chief Justice V. N. Khare said, “In other words, whilst selecting/admitting students of their own community they (minority colleges) cannot ignore the inter-se merit amongst students of their own community. Admission, even of members of their community must strictly be on the basis of merit only.”

Further if the seats could not be filled from members of their community, then the other students can be admitted on the basis of merit determined as per the common entrance test (CET) conducted by the government agencies, the court clarified.

The court said the 11-Judge Constitution Bench in its majority decision had made this provision keeping in mind the private colleges indulging in “profiteering” and selling seats to students by charging high capitation fees, which the court has declared as illegal.

Stressing on the need to streamlining the admission process through the CET in every state, the court pointed out that the medical, engineering and technical institutions had even been selling their prospectuses and admission forms by charging fees ranging between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 and students were being forced to run from one place to another across the country to appear in entrance examinations.

“The words common entrance test (CET) clearly indicate that each institute cannot hold a separate test. We thus hold that management (of minority colleges) could select students, of their quota, either on the basis of the CET conducted by the state or on the basis of the one conducted by an association of all such colleges imparting a particular type of professional education in that state,” the court said.

It said that the option for the students to chose between the CET conducted by the state or the association of private colleges, must be exercised before the prospectuses are issued and after intimation to the authorities concerned and the committee, headed by a retired high court judge in each state, envisaged to be appointed as per the judgement.

After declaration of the results, the merit list must be immediately placed on the notice board of all colleges concerned which have chosen to admit as per this test and a copy of the same should be sent to the committee.

The question papers and answer books must be preserved for a period to be indicated by the committee and if it was found that any student had been admitted by superseding the merit, “penalty can be imposed on such an institute and its university affiliation may also be withdrawn,” the court ruled.