- (1.) The petitioner being an Association of Technical & Professional Institutions has challenged the order dated 27.10.2009 (Annexure-2) issued under the signature of the Officer on Special Duty, Permanent Committee, B.I.T. Extension Centre, Ranchi, ( respondent no. 4) whereby the proposal of the petitioner Association for holding a second Entrance Examination for filling up the existing vacant seats in the member private Engineering Colleges has been rejected and instead, a qualifying criteria has been fixed for taking admission to the vacant seats of only such candidates who have secured a minimum 30% marks in General Category and 25% marks in the Reserved Category at the Examination conducted by the Association and also by the Jharkhand Combined Entrance Examination Board (JCEEB). Prayer has accordingly been made for quashing the impugned order (annexure 3) of the respondent and for allowing the petitioner Association to hold a second Common Entrance Examination for selecting students for filling up the vacant seats in the Engineering Colleges of the member of the Association and alternatively, for allowing admission of students to the member Engineering Colleges through open counselling without imposing any stringent qualifying criteria, and subject only to the qualification prescribed under the AICTE and the norms of the Jharkhand Combined Entrance Examination Board and the Joint Entrance Test conducted by All India Association of Technical & Professional Institutions (AIATPI).
(2.) The petitioner is an Association of private un-aided Engineering Colleges situated in the State of Jharkhand. The members of Association are colleges approved by the AICTE apex Central Body and are affiliated to different universities in the State of Jharkhand. These Engineering Colleges are run by private Management Body/Trust and affiliation is based in accordance with the norms of the provisions of the AICTE which monitors and co-ordinates technical education in the country. The AICTE has approved the sanctioned strength intake of students in each of the member engineering colleges. The mode of admission of students to the member engineering colleges which are run by private Management/Trust are as under: (a) through Jharkhand Combined Entrance Examination Board ((JCEEB); (b) Through All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE); (c ) Through a Common Entrance Examination (CEC) conducted by the petitioner Association.
(3.) For the purpose of enabling the petitioner Association proper guidance and supervision in the matter of conducting Joint Entrance Test, the State government has constituted a Permanent Committee pursuant to the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of P.A. Inamdar v. State of Maharashtra 2005 (6) SCC 537. For the session 2008-09, the petitioner Association had conducted a Joint Entrance test under the direct supervision of the Permanent Committee. A total number of 823 students had appeared at the examination and accordingly, merit lists were prepared on the basis of marks obtained by them. While recommending names of students for counselling, the Permanent Committee vide its letter dated 29.9.2008, had imposed a qualifying criteria recommending admission of only those students who had obtained a minimum 50% marks in the General Category and 45% marks in the Reserved Category. Later, considering the lower number of students qualifying the higher percentage of cut-off marks, the Permanent Committee by its own decision lowered down the curt-off marks to 30% in the General Category and 25% in the Reserved Category. Even thereafter, against the total strength of 1736 seats, only 102 seats were allotted through JCEEB, 530 through AIEEE and 377 could be available through the examination conducted by the petitioner Association on the basis of 30% and 25% cut off marks. On account of a very few number of students being allotted to it by the JCEEB and AIEEE and there being inadequate number of students who could qualify in the Entrance Examination conducted by the Association, a large number of seats have remained vacant, which has resulted in acute financial crisis and even threat to the very survival of these private Colleges and therefore, with a view to fill up the vacant seats, the petitioner Association had submitted its proposal for approval of the Permanent Committee either to permit the Association to conduct a second Entrance Examination, or alternatively, to permit them to admit students through direct counselling on the basis of marks obtained by students in the +2 examination. Both these proposal have been rejected by the Permanent Committee by its impugned order. Assailing the impugned order, the petitioner Association has raised the following questions for consideration: (i) whether the action of the respondent permanent Committee in fixing the condition of minimum percentage of cut off marks for regulating admissions in the private engineering colleges is arbitrary, without jurisdiction and against the spirit of the judgment rendered by the Supreme Court in several cases, including the case of Islamic Academy of Education v. State of Karnataka (ii) whether, in view of the large number of vacancies existing in the institutes even after the cut-off marks and the cut off dates, it would be open to the petitioner Association to fill up the same in the manner it considers appropriate (iii) whether in absence of any provision of cut off marks for regulating admissions in engineering colleges as per the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) or by the universities to which members of the petitioner Association are affiliated, any legal embargo can be imposed against the petitioner Association from holding a second Entrance Examination for filling up the vacant seats ;