SC dismisses Kerala govt's appeal

New Delhi, May 7 (UNI) The Supreme Court today declined the request of the Kerala government to stay the operation of the state High Court judgement striking down some of the provisions of the impugned act enacted by it to check malpractices being indulged in by private unaided educational institutions in the state, as ultra vires of the Constitution of India.

A Bench comprising Justices B N Agrawal and P P Naolekar, while declining the prayer of the state government, held that an interim stay will hamper the admission process for the academic aession 2007-2008, which is already underway.

The high court had struck down some of the provisions of the impugned act as ultra vires of the constitution such as all private unaided educational insitutions, including minority institutions, will have to admit students on merits from the Common Entrance Test conducted by the state government and the merit list released by the state government for admission to Engineering colleges in the state.

Private insitutions, however, opposed the act and had challenged its validity in the high court on the grounds that the act was an attempt by the state government to take over the control of these institutions by monopolising admissions and taking away the discretionary quota of these institutions which is a must as they do not get any financial aid from the state government and have to depend on tuition fees and others for their survival and maintenance.

UNI