68 MBA/MCA students’ fate in the balance

In a significant judgement affecting the career of 68 MBA/MCA students entering the second year in self-financing private colleges, the Madras High Court has declared their admission illegal as they have not obtained the minimum qualifying marks prescribed by the AICTE.

Justice V Ramasubramanian, who declared the admission as illegal, however, said that the affected students could approach their respective colleges for refund of the amount paid and compensation for the loss of one year of study.

The judge was upholding the amended regulation of AICTE, which prescribed the minimum eligibility marks for admission to these two courses as 50% for general category and 45% for reserved category candidates, from the academic year 2011-12.

Dismissing a batch of writ petitions from M Arunkumar and 67 other students, the judge said the institutions were the actual wrong-doers. “After admitting the students contrary to the regulations, these institutions hide behind the students and indulge in shadow litigation, as they know pretty well that they cannot plead either equity or sympathy.”

They make the students appeal to the conscience of this court, so that, along with the students the wrong doings of the managements of these colleges would also get whitewashed.

If the students succeed, the educational institutions also reap the benefit. If the students fail, they alone suffer, as the institutions would have nothing to lose, since they would have already collected and enjoyed the fees paid by them.

“It will be open to the students to seek refund of the fees that they had paid and also seek compensation against the colleges that admitted them contrary to the regulations,” the judge said.

Prior to December 2010, the qualification prescribed for admission to MBA/MCA courses was just a pass in a recognised degree course. But, on December 10, 2010, AICTE introduced the minimum eligibility marks for admission to MBA/MCA courses. Since the petitioners were admitted without eligibility marks, the university did not permit them to take the examination. The students filed the present petitions and obtained interim orders to write the examination, subject to the outcome of their petitions.

The judge said the amended regulations were notified in the gazette on December 10, 2010 itself. Therefore, the colleges cannot feign ignorance of the publication of the regulations. As per the prospectus, the last date for submission of applications was July 16, 2011 and CET was conducted on August 10, 2011. The petitioners and the colleges agree that they were aware of the communications issued by the Director of Technical Education. “Therefore, the admission of the petitioners to these courses was clearly illegal,” the judge added.