PNS has power to frame admission process for unaided colleges: HC

Mumbai, July 26 (UNI) The Bombay High Court today directed the Association of Unaided Engineering Colleges to abide by the reservation for women, sports candidates and defence personnel categories as per regulations of the state appointed Pravesh Niyantran Samiti regarding admissions.

A division bench comprising Justices F I Rebeillo and V K Tahilramani also directed the AUEC to follow the Centralised Admission Process (CAP) and go through the prescribed rounds for admissions as the Samiti had the power to frame such policies to prevent malpractices.

However, the court quashed the 70/30 quota for local students and meritorious students from the state respectively and allowed the private unaided colleges to admit students on open merits. Also, the 15 per cent quota reserved for the children of non-residential Indian parents, did not require special permission from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

The AUEC had earlier approached the court and submitted that the Samiti was stifling their freedom in the admissions, directing them to go through several rounds of admissions through CAP.

They also were being directed to acquire permission from AICTE to allow 15 per cent admissions to students of NRI parents and follow the 70/30 quota while admitting students to maintain equality of merit for students from local and other areas.

Also, the state had argued that the Samiti had been appointed so as to monitor the private unaided colleges after the Supreme Court judgement allowing them autonomy of completing admissions.

The court had observed that it was time for the state to come up with a uniform legislation to streamline higher education and put an end to the pre-admission litigations that came up in court every year.

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