SC refuses to pass interim order on JEE controversy

Following disagreement on the new normalisation policy, the Supreme Court bench has agreed that it will pass the order only if it finds that the education policy violates the fundamental rights of students.

The Supreme Court today refused to pass interim order on a plea challenging the policy for deciding the merit list of students for admission in government-funded engineering colleges based on Class 12 board marks and the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE).

A bench of justices H L Dattu and Dipak Misra, however, agreed to hear the plea of parents of engineering aspirants, who challenged the new "normalisation" policy.

The bench said that it would hear the petition on merit only after being satisfied that the education policy violates fundamental rights of students.

From this year students are to be selected based on their performance in the JEE and the marks they get in the Class 12 board exams.

Sixty per cent weightage would be given to marks obtained in the JEE and 40 per cent to the board exam results.

Around 25,000 students are selected every year for all the 30 National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology and other top technology schools, except the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

Senior advocate U U Lalit, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the normalisation principle is completely "foreign" to the entire idea of the Centre's education policy.

Expressing reservation in entertaining the plea, the bench asked Lalit to convince it first on maintainability of the petition on the next date of hearing. 

The Court issued notice to Centre asking it to respond on the plea within four weeks.

Photograph: Sahil Salvi/Rediff.com