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| Tuesday, Apr 10, 2007
CET: DK, PMK seek to implead as parties to court proceedings
- "Normalisation of marks will ensure justice to all students"
- Division Bench to begin hearing arguments from Tuesday
Chennai: The Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) and the Pattali Makkal Katchi
(PMK) have moved the Madras High Court to implead themselves
as parties to the proceedings relating to the abolition of the
common entrance test (CET) for professional course admission
in Tamil Nadu.
Dravidar Kazhagam president K. Veeramani said the CET would
not entitle students to get admissions in all universities.
"It helps them get admission only in Anna University."
Since there were many universities and deemed universities in
the State, each student had to write three or four separate
entrance tests.
Reiterating that the abolition would not affect the prospects
of students and their inter se merit, Mr. Veeramani said normalisation
of marks proposed by the new Act would meet the ends of justice
for all categories of students.
Narrating the mental and physical strain on students, Mr. Veeramani,
who filed four implead petitions, said the Supreme Court had
never ruled that CET was the only method to assess merit. It
had allowed admission of students who had not taken the CET.
He said the petitioners had not pointed out any defects in the
new system. "It cannot be said to be irrational or illegal
or without any basis." Besides the historical background
and statistical justification, the new Act had the backing of
Presidential assent, which would prevail over any other existing
law or rules of regulations passed by the Centre.
In his petition, PMK students wing secretary K. Saravanan said
the CET would affect a large mass of socially and educationally
backward people in the State. The petitioners ought not to have
challenged the policy decision to abolish it.
The expert committee, constituted by the State Government before
enacting the Tamil Nadu Admission in Professional Education
Institutions Act 2006, had rendered its findings based on public
opinion, legal aspects, implication of various judgments and
alternative selection methods, Mr. Saravanan said. The CET was
a cumbersome process and caused mental agony to students from
rural areas as they lacked access to specialised coaching facilities.
A Division Bench headed by Justice Prafulla Kumar Misra will
hear arguments from Tuesday.
Courtesy: The Hindu
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