Group of private colleges gets no legal relief

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Wednesday refused to grant relief to the Association of Managements of Unaided Engineering Colleges, which had challenged an order of the Pravesh Niyantran Samiti allowing private colleges to choose between conducting their admissions on the basis of the private CET or the government CET.

With the court refusing to stay the Samiti’s order, students who appeared for the association’s CET for 136 private colleges will have to make do with a shrunken list.  

The reduced choice has put a question mark on the future of students like Radhika Kalmegh, a Gujarat resident, who appeared for the private colleges’ CET. Arguing her petition, lawyer Naendra Walavalkar said students should not suffer in the tussle between government and private colleges. Associate Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni argued that colleges were free to decide which CET to follow.

The tussle began when 115 private colleges opted to follow the state government’s CET. Despite this, the AMUEC listed the names of all 136 private colleges in its 2006 brochure. The association’s argument is that all 136 colleges are its members and have to stick by their CET.