Uniform mechanisms needed for universities’ admission process: Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court has said that the Maharashtra government needs to have a uniform mechanism of admission process for students in all its universities.

A division bench of Justices B R Gavai and M S Karnik observed earlier this month that there is disparity in the admission process in some educational institutions.

It was hearing petitions filed by two students challenging decisions of two different colleges for refusing them admission to masters course in law.

According to the petitioners, they had inadvertently mentioned marks secured by them in the final year of their graduation instead of the average marks secured during their three-year degree course.

The bench noted that there is disparity in the procedure followed in different colleges and universities on the issue of which marks are to be taken into consideration.

"On account of this disparity, students are suffering," the court said.

In some universities, the marks obtained only in the last year are considered as those obtained in the graduation while some universities consider the average of the marks obtained in all the years' examinations, as the final marks, it said.

"We find it appropriate that at least in all the universities, which are under the control of Maharashtra state, there should be some uniform practice on this issue. One uniform mechanism needs to be followed for admission procedure," the court said.

The bench also said that a "hyper-technical" approach should not be adopted by universities and colleges while giving admissions to students of various courses.

The court directed the two petitioners to be granted admission by the respective colleges.