IIM Admission Lists May Be Out Tomorrow

New Delhi, Apr 26 (UNI) Authorities tonight cleared a ''midway'' solution to let India's ace management schools admit freshers at last year's levels but defer reservation admissions until a possible Supreme Court nod next month, sources said.

The interim solution put forward by Human Resource Minister Arjun Singh to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh went before the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs-- reservation being a political decision-- and was endorsed by United Progressive Alliance allies and left backers this evening, sources said.

The development ended a stalemate on IIM admissions arising from a government move to reserve 27 per cent seats for Other Backward Class students in centrally-funded higher learning institutions.

While the current focus is on the IIM, the issue involves 59 higher education institutions, including the Indian Institutes of Technology and central universities.

A spokesman for Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow told journalists that if the IIMs hear from the HRD Ministry tonight, the list of successful admission seekers would be out by forenoon tomorrow.

The government move-- characterised by critics as an attempt to woo OBC vote-- has been challenged before the land's highest court.

A two-Judge Bench stayed the implementation of the provision while it considered the Constitutional validity of the laws notified to effect reservation.

The IIM announcement scheduled for April 21 was held up for a Supreme Court hearing, which ended on Monday without lifting the stay against the reservation, and set next hearing on August 3.

An application on Tuesday on behalf of HRD Minister Singh underscoring public interest was acceded to by India's Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, who has set a hearing for May 8.

The refusal on Monday by Justices Arijit Pasayat and Lokeshwar Singh Panta to vacate the stay on implementing the reservation evoked criticism in Tamil Nadu assembly.

Chief Minister M Karunanidhi was reported to have remarked that ''two or three persons deciding the destiny of 100 crore people'' was an injustice to democracy.

UNI