The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Order on seats surrender by unaided colleges challenged

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Thursday, Jul 05, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Order on seats surrender by unaided colleges challenged

Special Correspondent

The consortium sought to restrain Government from allotting seats

Bench to hear the case on Thursday
“Provisions contrary to Supreme Court law”

CHENNAI: The July 2 order of a single judge, upholding the constitutional validity of a State legislation and a Government Order on surrender of seats by unaided colleges and admission of students for management quota seats through the single window system, has been challenged before a Division Bench. The Consortium of Self-Financing Professional, Arts and Sciences Colleges has filed the writ appeal. As an interim relief, the consortium sought to restrain the Government from allotting seats to students after conducting centralised counselling.

On Wednesday, Rajeev Dhavan, senior counsel for the Consortium, mentioned the matter before the First Bench, comprising Chief Justice A.P. Shah and Justice P. Jyothimani, seeking early hearing. The Bench would hear the case on Thursday.

In the appeal, consortium secretary P. Selvaraj said the single judge had erred in upholding the validity of the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Admission in Professional Educational Institutions Act and the consequential Government Order. The provisions, he said, interfered with the unaided institutions’ right of admission and was contrary to the law laid down by the Supreme Court.

The appeal said the single judge did not give any finding on the arguments that “appropriating” 50 per cent of the seats from minority educational institutions would result in their losing the minority status. It also assailed the finding of the single judge that last year’s seat-sharing arrangement between the colleges and the Government had reached a finality, as there was no appeal against the decision, and that the percentage was enforceable in future too.

As for the single judge’s finding that the consortium had challenged the legislation only on June 30, the appeal said: “He erred in drawing adverse inference in having challenged the Act only on June 30, wherein it was explained that the validity of the Act could be challenged only when it is sought to be enforced.” Section 4(i) of the impugned Act, which mandates the managements to admit students on the basis of marks obtained in the relevant subjects in the qualifying examinations, took away the rights of unaided colleges to conduct an independent examination, it contended.

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