Institute-level entrance for MTech illegal: Gujarat High Court

Source: dnaindia.com

The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday held that the entrance exam conducted by the Institute of Infrastructure Technology Research and Management (IITRAM) for admission to Master of Engineering (ME) and Master of Technology (MTech) courses run by it is in contravention of norms and illegal. The blow to the varsity came from the division bench of Acting Chief Justice AS Dave and Justice Biren Vaishnav while pronouncing the verdict in the public interest litigation filed by Sandeep Munjyasara questioning the validity of the MTech admission process initiated by the varsity on May 1.

As per the Regulation of Admission and Payment of Fees Rules, 2013, governing the varsity, it is supposed to admit students in ME and MTech courses based on their scores in Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE). The court held that IITRAM cannot offer admissions based on the entrance exam conducted by it when rules categorically specify that admission has to be granted based on GATE score, as it leads to a compromise with the merit of students.

The order is likely to impact several other institutes which organise their own entrance exam for admission in ME and MTech courses offered by them.

During the marathon hearing of the case that continued for many days, Munjyasara had submitted to the court that students have to shell out a hefty amount for admission forms of individual institutes. He argued that the cost of admission form in each institute is not less than Rs 1,000-1,500. Also, it was argued that it leads to harassment for the students if they are forced to apply in different institutes which offer the required courses, as well as with Admission Committee for Professional Courses (ACPC), which conducts the centralised admission process for professional courses.

The petitioner also argued that due to the institute-level entrance exam, even those students, who otherwise would not have qualified for the course or do not have a GATE score, would also get admission.On the contrary, the state government had argued that the institute-level entrance examination system is in place for the past 10 years and the petitioner is a decade-late in approaching the court. It also argued that the petitioner has no personal grievance with respect to admissions in M.E and M.Tech. The varsity had argued that it can conduct its own admission process and that the petitioner is not an aggrieved party in the case.

NO ‘GATE’CRASH

As per the Regulation of Admission and Payment of Fees Rules, 2013, varsity is supposed to admit students in ME and MTech courses based on their GATE scores, said petitioner.