The latest on the AICTE front is that COMI which won a significant relief in Bombay HC in their WP 1335, has approached SC recently asking that the relief granted to AIMS/EPSI members – ie stay on operation of the AICTE Dec 28, 2010 notification, be extended to them also.

COMI members are PGDM institutes in Maharashtra who came together on the basis that the 3 landmark cases in SC – Pai Foundation, Islamic Academy and PA Inamdar hold good and accordingly they argued and won. They got the right to:

– Do their own Test and be exempt from CET

– Do their own counseling, and escape DTE CAP

– and do their own admissions

Bombay HC gave the relief asked for and asked them to submit to DTE and AICTE a Process Handbook detailing how they would do transparent and merit based Common Admission Process. – This is a permanent relief till the Inamdar judgement in SC is overturned, which is not likely in a long time to come.

Obviously members of COMI did not like to work together and wanted be on their own for at least one more year, hence their SLP in SC.

ITM has decided to stick with the Bombay HC order in WP 1334 and not to go to SC. This is because the HC has recognised that:

– There are no complaints against ITM since last 20 years, which is close enough to 25 years mentioned in Inamdar case

– ITM is a multi-state institution, with a number of B-Schools spread across 4/5 states

– ITM is already doing a transparent CAP based on CAT/MAT

My feeling is that SC will reinstate AICTE notification with modifications and COMI has to go back to HC and start all over again.

I feel that COMI has given up a permanent remedy for a short term relief!

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