Post on 23-Sep-2020
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE OF BOMBAY (APPELLATE SIDE JURISDICTION)
WRIT PETITION No. __________ OF 2016
DISTRICT: MUMBAI
IN THE MATTER OF ARTICLES 12, 14, 21, 21A OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA;
AND
IN THE MATTER OF GOVERNMENT RESOLUTION DATED 04-12-2015 ISSUED B Y T H E H I G H E R A N D T E C H N I C A L EDUCATION DEPARTMENT;
AND
IN THE MATTER OF NOTIFICATION DATED 13-04-2016 ISSUED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF MAHARASHTRA THROUGH ITS STATE COMMON ENTRANCE TEST CELL.
Shalini D/o Harishkumar Kotian;
Age: 17 years (minor) Through her father and natural guardian: Harishkumar Kotian, Age: 55 years; Occ.: service; R/o: 6/601 ShreeKrishna Paradise Sector 12, Behind Prime MallKharghar 410210 ….. PETITIONER
VERSUS
1. The State of Maharashtra
Through its Secretary,
Higher and Technical Education Department,
Mantralaya, Mumbai – 32.
2. The State Common Entrance Cell,
Through its Commissioner
305, III Floor, Govt. Polytechnic Building,
49 Kherwadi, Bandra (E) Mumbai – 400051
3. Director,
Higher Education,
Maharashtra State,
Pune ….RESPONDENTS
To, THE HON’BLE CHIEF JUSTICE AND OTHER HON’BLE PUISNE JUDGES OF THE HON’BLE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE OF BOMBAY
THE HUMBLE PETITION OF PETITIONER ABOVENAMED
MOST RESPECTFULLY SUBMIT THAT:
1. The petitioner is a citizen of India and
resident of the above mentioned address.
2. The petitioner has completed her Higher
S e c o n d a r y C e r t i f i c a t e E x a m i n a t i o n
conducted in February 2016 scor ing
65.54%, an aspirant to pursue a degree
course in law. Being a minor she has filed
the present writ petition through her father.
3. The petitioner has been a meritorious
student all through her school life and had
an aspiration to undertake the integrated 5-
year law course post class 12th from one of
the reputed colleges in Maharashtra like
ILS, Pune or GLC, Mumbai geared towards
litigation.
4. Till the current year the admissions in all
the law colleges in Maharashtra including
ILS, Pune or GLC, Mumbai were based on
class XII results. However, for the academic
year 2016-17 onwards the Government of
Maharashtra has introduced a common
entrance test to be conducted under the
direction of the Commissionarate of State
Common Entrance Test Cell for all the law
colleges in the State.
5. While there is nothing wrong in introducing
a uniform admission standard across all
law colleges in Maharashtra, the manner in
which the common law entrance test has
been introduced and the amount of chaos it
has caused, is certainly violative of the
fundamental right to education and the
right to equality of the petitioner.
6. The CET was introduced for the law-degree
admissions for 5 year as well as 3 year
courses vide G.R. dated 04-12-2015, a copy
of which is annexed herewith and marked
as Exhibit “A”.
7. The G.R. dated 04-12-2015 notified the
introduction of the CET for admission to 5
year as well as 3 year courses in law
starting from the academic year 2016-17.
The G.R. further states that the CET would
be conducted under the aiges of the
Commissioner, State Common Entrance
Tes t Ce l l ( r espondent No . 2 here in ) .
However, it is conspicuous that the G.R.
does not make a mention of the syllabus for
the entrance examination or even the time
period within which such syllabus would be
notified.
8. By way of a Notification dated 11-03-2016,
the Government of Maharashtra through its
H igher and Technica l Educat ion has
declared the eligibility for admission to 5-
year and 3-year law courses, and has made
a mention of ‘obtained score in CET
conducted by the competent authority’. A
copy of the Notification dated 11-03-2016 is
annexed herewith and marked at Exhibit
“B”.
9. By way of notification dated 13-04-2016,
the Commissioner, State Common Entrance
Test Cell (respondent No. 2 herein) has
declared the date of the Maharashtra Law
CET (5-years) as 18 June and Maharashtra
Law CET (3-years) as 19 June. A copy of the
notification dated 13-04-2016 is annexed
herewith and marked at Exhibit “C”.
10. Even in this notification there was no
mention of the syllabus of the law common
entrance test for the State of Maharashtra.
11. The petitioner submits that she had read in
the newspapers sometime in December 2015
regarding the introduction of CET for law
admissions in Maharashtra, as a result of
which she has regular ly checked the
website of the Commissionarate of State
Common Entrance Test Cell, who had been
b e s t o w e d w i t h t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f
conducting the said CET, for any update on
the syllabus or pattern of the MAH-LAW
C E T e x a m t o b e c o n d u c t e d f o r t h e
admissions in academic year 2016-17.
12. The petitioner since was unable to find a
single notification with regards to the
syllabus or pattern of examination for the
MAH-LAW CET exam to be conducted for the
admissions in academic year 2016-17, had
begun to feel that the CET was probably
pushed to the next academic year, and that
admissions would be carried out based on
the earlier method of class XII results itself.
13. H o w e v e r, t o t h e u t t e r s h o c k o f t h e
petitioner, she was intimated by some of her
friends who were also aspiring to undertake
an education in law, that there was a
private website on the internet which had
some information with regards to the MAH-
LAW CET exam to be conducted for the
admissions in academic year 2016-17.
14. It is then that the petitioner was introduced
t o a c o u p l e o f p r i v a t e w e b s i t e s
including<http://www.law.careers360.com/
articles/mh-cet-law-2016> which had the
deadlines, a vague outline of syllabus and
link to the application forms to be available
f rom May 10, 2016 as wel l as some
information with regards to the publication
of marks, counseling etc. Copy of the
collective information available on the
private websites is annexed herewith and
marked as Exhibit “D”.
NO INFORMATION MADE AVAILABLE ON THE OFFICIAL
WEBSITE OF COMMISSIONARATE OF STATE COMMON
ENTRANCE TEST CELL OR OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE
DIRECTOR OF HIGHER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION
15. The petitioner submits that none of this
information, especially the information
pertaining to the syllabus and examination
pattern of the CET examination for law
courses in Maharashtra was made known to
the public through the official website of the
C o m m i s s i o n a r a t e o f S t a t e C o m m o n
Entrance Test Cell, which was the body
responsible for holding the law CET.
16. As a matter of fact, there is no information
on the website of the State Common
Entrance Test Cell, the body responsible for
holding the law CET, with regards to the
MAH-LAW CET exam to be conducted for the
admissions in academic year 2016-17.
There is only mention of MHT-CET and
FAQ’s relating to MHT-CET.
17. The petitioner submits that she has even
checked the official website of the Director
of Higher and Technical Education and
while the publication of the syllabus and
exam pattern of the professional courses
i n c l u d i n g t h e C E T f o r M B A , M C A ,
Architecture courses and Hotel Management
courses is easily available whereas there is
nothing available with regards to the CET
for law courses admissions. A copy of the
publication of syllabus with regards to CET
for professional courses including MBA,
MCA, Architecture courses and Hote l
Management courses is annexed herewith
and marked at Exhibit “E”.
18. Also, the helpline numbers available on the
of f ic ia l website of the State Common
Entrance Test Cell, the body responsible for
holding the law CET, are only for the
‘Health Science courses’ and ‘Engineering
and Pharmacy’ courses, none of which were
aware about the law CET or the syllabus for
the same. A copy of the print out of the
of f ic ial web-page of theState Common
Entrance Test Cell is annexed herewith and
marked at Exhibit “F”.
19. The petitioner submits that she apprehends
that the app l i ca t ion for ms would be
available on the 10th of May, 2016 and
Maharashtra Law CET would be conducted
on 18-19 June 2016, without having
provided a clear direction on the syllabus
and pattern of the CET examination.
20. Further the petitioner has also consulted
with the reputed colleges like the ILS, Pune
and GLC, Mumbai to confirm whether
admissions will be through CET and if the
colleges are aware about the exact syllabus
and pattern of paper for the examination.
To the utter surprise of the petitioner the
colleges were as unaware about the exact
state of affairs so far as the syllabus and
paper pattern of the CET was concerned, as
he was. The colleges had informed the
petitioner that none of their academics had
been invited to be a part of the team setting
papers or determining the pattern of CET
Examination.
21. T h e p e t i t i o n e r s u b m i t s t h a t i f t h e
academic ians f rom the most r eputed
colleges in the State were not involved in
setting papers or determining the pattern of
CET Examination, it was rather doubtful
that there was in-fact any team of experts
which has conducted some research and
has come up with the paper pattern and will
set the paper for the CET Examination.
22. The petitioner submits that if the syllabus
or the paper pattern is not available to her
in advance, she may lose a very significant
opportunity to pursue legal education in
premier institutions of the country to the
vagaries of fate. The petitioner who has
been an academically brilliant student
through-out may have to waste a year in
order to secure a position at one of the
premier institutions of the country as the
syllabus of the CET is not made known to
her or the public at large, and there is not
adequate time to prepare for the same.
23. It is very recently that the petitioner has
f o u n d a l i n k t o a w e b s i t e c a l l e d
<mahacet.org> on the official website of ILS
with regards to information about CET. It is
after going through a labyrinth ofweb-pages
and links, she was able to find a brochure
with regards to all the information of CET
compiled together. The said brochure for 5-
year law course and 3-year law course had
been uploaded only on 09-05-2016 andis
the first official document with the syllabus
for the CET. Even in this document the
syllabus prescribed is rather vague and
without specifications, and the document is
hidden away under several deeplinks in an
o b s c u r e w e b s i t e w i t h a l m o s t n o
visibility.There was also a notification with
regards to eligibility of the courses dated
07-05-2016. A copy o f the web-page
showing the brochure being uploaded on
09-05-2016 and copies of the relevant
ex t rac t o f sy l labus o f the CET f rom
b r o c h u r e s f o r 5 - y e a r a n d 3 - y e a r
examination as well as the notifications
with regards to eligibility of the courses
dated 07-05-2016are annexed herewith and
marked at Exhibit “G” collectively.
CET CONDUCTED UNDER MAHARASHTRA UNAIDED PRIVATE
PROFESSIONAL, EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS (REGULATIONS
OF ADMISSION AND FEES) ACT, 2015
24. The petitioner submits that the State
Legislature passed the Maharashtra Unaided
Private Professional, Educational Institutions
(Regulations of Admission and Fees) Act, 2015.
Meanwhile, the Government in Higher and
Technical Education Department published a
notification in exercise of powers conferred by
the said Act. Accordingly the Maharashtra
Unaided Private Professional, Educational
Institutions (Regulations of Admission to the
Full-time professional Undergraduate Law
courses Rules, 2016 came to be framed and
brought into force from 02-02-2016. Copies of
the Act of 2015 and the Rules of 2016 framed
under it are annexed herewith and marked at
Exhibit “H” collectively.
25. The CET cannot be applied and introduced to
the Government and aided law colleges in
Maharashtra. Similarly, the Rules framed in
2016 vide notification dated 02-04-2016 would
be appl icable only to unaided pr ivate
professional education institutions i.e. only to
unaided law colleges in Maharashtra in the case
at hand.
26. The wholesale extension of 2016 Rules to
Government and aided law colleges smacks of
arbitrariness and non-application of mind
because the structure in aided colleges and
Government colleges is completely different from
unaided colleges. For example, unaided colleges
have management quota and the Government
unaided colleges do not have unaided quota. It
would be mechanical on the part of the
Government to make Management quota
inapplicable in case of unaided colleges and
apply the Rules of 2016 to all the Government
law Colleges irrespective of the facts as to
whether such colleges are Government aided or
unaided.
27. It is mechanical to treat B.A. LLB and B.B.A
LLB the integrated 5-year courses at par as the
undergraduate stream is entirely different. The
students aspiring to join law colleges of their
choice are not provided with any guidance about
the preference systemor counseling. Generally,
the competitive examinations such as CET are
required when there is a shortfall between the
seats available and the number of students
seeking admission. Presently, there is no such
short-fall in Maharashtra, as such, the decision
of the Government to hold CET for law
admissions is unjustifiable.
28. The petitioner submits that the Act of 2016
cannot be extended to the Government law
colleges or aided law colleges in Maharashtra,
muchtheless by notification or circular which
would suffer from excessive delegation.
29. The petitioner submits that there is no
guidance so as to provide a basis to lay down
the cap on the Maharashtra seats. Similarly,
there is no guidance whatsoever as to how to
prepare a merit list of aided and unaided law
colleges and allocate colleges to students as per
their preference.
NO EXPERT INVOLVED IN PAPER-SETTING
30. The petitioner submits that the Government or
the so-called ‘experts’ appointed by the
Government have not done any home-work to
either prepare syllabus or appointed experts for
paper setting. Similarly, no criterion is laid down
to select the examiners. As a result many
inexperienced and junior teachers are appointed
as examiners.
31. The petitioner submits that no appoint is made
to consult senior professors outside of the State,
more particularly those having experience of
setting CLAT papers.
SHORTFALL OF APPLICATIONS
32. The petitioner has come to understand that the
total number of applications for the MH-CET are
much less than the number of seats in 5-year
and 3-year law courses in the State. The first
deadline for receiving applications was 23 May
2016, but was extended to 03 June 2016 as the
number of applications was lower than the
number of seats available. The total number of
applications finally received for the MH-CET is
nearly 28,000 whereas the total number of seats
available in all the colleges across Maharashtra
in 5-year and 3-year courses is nearly 34,000.
Add to this disparity a general drop-out rate of
30%, nearly half the seats of law colleges are
likely to go unfilled owing to the introduction of
the CET. A copy of the notification extending
deadline is annexed herewith and marked at
Exhibit “I”.
33. It is for all these reasons that the CET is illegal
and cannot be permitted to be held for
admissions of the law colleges in Maharashtra.
34. The petitioner further submits that despite
her persistent efforts of checking the official
website and enquiring with the helpline
numbers of the State Common Entrance
Test Cell, the body responsible for holding
the law CET, she has been unable to know
the syllabus or paper pattern for the CET,
meaning thereby, that the students at large
who are relying on the admissions to be on
the basis of their class XII marks would
have no information about the same.
35. The petitioner further states that her father
and natural guardian is not sighted and has
thus felt the discrimination in policies of
education and employment towards to
v i sua l l y impa i r ed . Hav ing f i r s t hand
suf fered f rom v isual impairment , the
petitioners’ father and natural guardian
who has filed this petition on her behalf is
equally concerned about the of special
facilities for the provision of taking the CET
examination by the visually impaired either
by providing the question script in brail or
screen reading softwares like JAWS or by
providing a reader and extra t ime to
complete the examination. However, there is
no guideline regarding the same in the
brochure and no information about applying
from special needs category.
36. Thus apart from the blatent illegalities of
procedure, the CET of law is also completely
oblivious to the rights of students with
disabilities, particularly students with Visual
impairments. Exclusion of Students of with
disabilities from the consideration zone while
framing the rules for the conducting of Test is
not only unconstitutional being violative of Art
14 but also flagrant breach of the mandate of
UNCRPD 2006, to which India is one of the state
parties with its ratification, more particularly
Articles 5, 9,12 and 13 thereof. The same also
amounts to virtual non implementation of
Obligation to provide 3% reservations in all
curriculum courses imposed on the appropriate
governments by section 39 of Persons with
disability Act 1995. Needless to mention that the
website of the government advertising the CET
entrance Law is also completely inaccessible to
the visually impaired.
37. Being aggrieved by the non-publication of
t h e s y l l a b u s / p a p e r p a t t e r n o f t h e
Maharashtra Law CET and apprehending
that the same would be conducted on 18-19
June 2016, the pet i t ioner chal lenges
legality, validity and correctness of the
same, on the following amongst other
grounds:
GROUNDS
I. At the outset, the non-publication of
syllabus and paper pattern in case of a
change is in absolute violation of the right
to education as covered under the right to
life as well as the right to equality under
Article 14 of the Constitution of India.
II. The respondents have not noti f ied or
pub l i shed the sy l l abus and /o r the
examination paper pattern for the CET for
law courses in the State of Maharashtra till
date.
III. The non-publication of the change is
syl labus and/or paper pattern of the
admission to law courses, both 3-year and
5-year, is in violation of section 65 of the
Maharashtra Universities Act, 1994.
IV. The section 65 deals with the admissions to
all courses in the University departments
and affiliated colleges and empowers the
State Government to f rame rules for
admissions provided that such rules must
be published in the official gazette or in the
University Gazette.
V. The full bench of the Bombay High Court in
the matter of Govinddas M. Shroff v. State
of Maharashtra reported in 1997 (1) Mah.
L.R. 545 –FB has held in para 15 of the
judgment that ‘section 65 requires that
model rules for admission should be
published in the University Gazette six
months in advance in the interests of the
students. A copy of the judgment is
annexed herewith and marked as Exhibit
“J”.
VI. The Court in the matter of Govinddas M.
Shroff v. State of Maharashtra reported
in 1997 (1) Mah. L.R. 545 –FB has further
held that “In fact section 65 is statutory
recognition of well established principle
that fair play requires that any major
chance in the admission process should be
made known to the students wel l in
advance”.
VII. T h e s y l l a b u s a n d p a p e r p a t t e r n a s
published on the private website mentioned
in the petition is wholly unauthorized and
has no value or authenticity attached to it,
and thus cannot be considered to be
publication under section 65 of the Act.
VIII. Further the syllabus and paper pattern as
published on the private website mentioned
in the petit ion too was published on
13-04-2016, that is way too close to the
date of the CET 2016.
IX. T h e s y l l a b u s a n d p a p e r p a t t e r n a s
published on the private website mentioned
in the petitionincludes legal aptitude,
logical reasoning, English and current
affairs and G.K. All of these headings are
extremely vague and of general nature,
c r ea t ing a chao t i c s i tua t i on f o r the
students.
X. The pattern of MCQ’s being 150 in 2 hours
based on legal aptitude, logical reasoning,
English and current affairs and G.K., is
quite similar to the Common Law Admission
Test- CLAT paper pattern, for which
students usually undergo training and
preparation for almost a year to be able to
score well so as to get admission in top
National Law Schools.
XI. W i t h o u t s a m p l e p a p e r s , a n d e x a c t
understating of the type of knowledge of
specific sections, the students are in no
position to prepare for a CET of such
important admission decision. For instance
in preparing for English – it is important for
the student to know if he would be tested
on word meanings, or grammar, or unseen
passages or legal jargon. Each of these
varied sub-categories of English testing,
has a very distinct type and level of
preparation that is required.
XII. Even for CLAT which is set every year by a
panel o f experts f rom the organiz ing
National Law University, details of which
are published a year in advance, a Writ
Petition has been filed in the Supreme
Court by a renowned academician Shri.
Shamnaad Basheer, al leging the mal-
practices and impropriety of certain type of
questions in such examinations.
XIII. Further, there is a discrepancy in syllabus
for 5-year course vis-à-vis 3-year course in
as much as mathematics is given no
weightage in the 3-year course. Such a
difference in entrance examination for the
t w o e q u i v a l e n t d e g r e e s i n l a w i s
discriminatory and arbitrary.
XIV. The non-publication of the syllabus of the
CET for law courses in the State of
M a h a r a s h t r a i s u n f a i r , u n j u s t ,
discriminatory and tramples upon the
principle of Rule of Law.
XV. The sudden introduction of the CETfor law
courses in the State of Maharashtra,
without any easily accessible material on
the syllabus, paper patter, paper setting
committee etc is violative of legitimate
e x p e c t a t i o n , a s a l s o s h a k e s p u b l i c
confidence in the admission process.
XVI. The non-publication of the syllabus of the
CET for law courses in the State of
Maharashtra is per se illegal and bad in
law.
XVII. The CET has not taken into consideration
the special needs of dif ferently abled
persons like the visually impaired, nor has
it provided 3% reservation in violation of
section 39 of the Persons with Disabilities
Act, 1995. This discrimination is in flagrant
breach of the Articles 5, 9 and 13 of
UNCRPD 2006, apart from being violative of
Article 14 of the Constitution.
38. The petitioners have not received any notice
of caveat from any of the respondents till
date.
39. The petitioners crave leave to add, amend,
alter, change or delete any ground or
grounds of this application.
40. The petitioners undertake to provide the
English version of the Marathi documents
whenever required or directed.
41. PRAYERS:
42. In view of the above circumstances, this
Hon’ble Court shall be graciously pleased,
under Art. 226 of the Constitution of
India to:
A. The Writ Petition may kindly be allowed;
B. To ho ld and dec la re tha t the non-
publication of the syllabus and paper
pattern of the Maharashtra law CET for 5-
year and 3-year law courses in the State of
Maharashtra is unconstitutional;
C. To quash and set aside the Government
Resolution dated 04-12-2015 issued by the
Higher and Technical Education Department,
the Notification dated 11-03-2016 issued by
the Higher and Technica l Educat ion
Department and the Notification dated
13-04-2016 issued by the Government of
Maharashtra through its State Common
Entrance Test Cell, to the extent of holding of
MAH-LAW CET for the academic year 2016-17;
D. To grant interim stay to the Government
Resolution dated 04-12-2015 issued by the
Higher and Technical Education Department,
the Notification dated 11-03-2016 issued by
the Higher and Technica l Educat ion
Department and the Notification dated
13-04-2016 issued by the Government of
Maharashtra through its State Common
Entrance Test Cell, to the extent of holding of
MAH-LAW CET for the academic year 2016-17;
E. To direct the respondents to al low the
different colleges and institutions imparting
legal education in the State of Maharashtra to
carry out admission process for the 5-year
and 3-year courses based on class XII
results, pending hearing and final disposal of
the writ petition;
F. To grant any other relief to which the
petitioners are entitled.
AND FOR THIS ACT OF KINDNESS AND JUSTICE,
THE PETITIONERS AS IN DUTY BOUND SHALL
EVER PRAY.
PLACE:- MUMBAI [S.B.TALEKAR] DATE:-13.06.2016 ADVOCATE FOR PETITIONER
SOLEMN AFFIRMATION
I, Harishkumar Kotian, father and natural
guardian of the minor petitioner, aged: 55 years; Occ.:
service; R/o: 6/601 ShreeKrishna Paradise
Sector 12, Behind Prime Mall
Kharghar 410210, do hereby state on solemn
affirmation that the contents of this Writ Petition
from para No. 1 to 26 are true and correct to the
best of my personal knowledge as well as the
knowledge gather from the documents annexed to
the petition and I believe them to be true.
Hence verified on 13th day of June, 2016 at
Aurangabad.
Identified by Deponent
Advocate (Harishkumar Kotian)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE OF BOMBAY (APPELLATE SIDE JURISDICTION)
WRIT PETITION No. __________ OF 2016
DISTRICT:-MUMBAI
Shalini H. Kotian; Through his father and natural guardian: ….. PETITIONER
VERSUS
The State of Maharashtra And others ….RESPONDENTS
LIST OF THE DOCUMENTS
Sr No
Description Exh No.
Page Nos.
1 C o p y o f G . R . d a t e d 04-12-2015 notifying the introduction of the CET for admission to 5-year as well as 3-year courses in law for 2016-17 to be conducted u n d e r t h e a i g e s o f Commissioner, State Common Entrance Test Cell
A To
2 A copy of the Notification dated 11-03-2016 declaring the eligibility criteria for admission to law courses
B To
3 A copy of the notification dated 13-04-2016 declaring the date of the Maharashtra Law CET as 18 and 19 June
C To
4 C o p y o f t h e c o l l e c t i v e information regarding the CET available on the private websites
D To
5. Copy of the publication of syllabus with regards to CET for professional courses i n c l u d i n g M B A , M C A , Architecture courses and Hotel Management courses in the official website of the D i r e c t o r o f H i ghe r and Technical Education.
E TO
6. Copy of the print out of the official web-page of the State Common Entrance Test Cell showing the helpline numbers only for the ‘Health Science courses’ and ‘Engineering and Pharmacy’ courses
F TO
PLACE: MUMBAI [S.B.TALEKAR] DATE:-13.06.2016 ADVOCATE FOR PETITIONER
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE OF BOMBAY (APPELLATE SIDE JURISDICTION)
WRIT PETITION No. __________ OF 2016
DISTRICT:-MUMBAI
7. Copy of the web-page showing the brochure being uploaded on 09-05-2016 and copies of t h e r e l e van t e x t r a c t o f syllabus of the CET from brochures for 5-year and 3-year examination and copies of noti f ication regarding eligibility dated 07-05-2016
G
colly
TO
8. C o p i e s o f M a h a r a s h t r a Unaided Private Professional, Educat ional Inst i tut ions (Regulations of Admission and Fees) Act, 2015 and the Maharashtra Unaided Private Professional, Educational Institutions (Regulations of Admission to the Full-time professional Undergraduate Law courses) Rules, 2016 made thereunder.
H
colly
TO
Copy of the notification dated 3 0 - 0 5 - 2 0 1 6 e x t e n d i n g deadline for submission of the examination form.
I TO
9. Copy of the judgment of the Bombay High Court in the matter of Govinddas M. S h r o f f v . S t a t e o f Maharashtra reported in 1997 (1) Mah. L.R. 545 –FB mandating publication of change in admission rules 6 monts prior to examination.
J TO
Last page
Shalini H. Kotian; Through his father and natural guardian: ….. PETITIONER
VERSUS The State of Maharashtra And others ….RESPONDENTS
INDEX
Sr No
Description Exh No.
Page Nos.
* Memo of the Writ Petition To
** List of the Documents To
1 C o p y o f G . R . d a t e d 04-12-2015 notifying the introduction of the CET for admission to 5-year as well as 3-year courses in law for 2016-17 to be conducted u n d e r t h e a i g e s o f Commissioner, State Common Entrance Test Cell
A To
2 A copy of the Notification dated 11-03-2016 declaring the eligibility criteria for admission to law courses
B To
3 A copy of the notification dated 13-04-2016 declaring the date of the Maharashtra Law CET as 18 and 19 June
C To
4 C o p y o f t h e c o l l e c t i v e information regarding the CET available on the private websites
D To
5. Copy of the publication of syllabus with regards to CET for professional courses i n c l u d i n g M B A , M C A , Architecture courses and Hotel Management courses in the official website of the D i r e c t o r o f H i ghe r and Technical Education.
E TO
6. Copy of the print out of the official web-page of the State Common Entrance Test Cell showing the helpline numbers only for the ‘Health Science courses’ and ‘Engineering and Pharmacy’ courses
F TO
PLACE: MUMBAI [S.B.TALEKAR] DATE:-13.06.2016 ADVOCATE FOR PETITIONER
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE OF BOMBAY (APPELLATE SIDE JURISDICTION)
WRIT PETITION No. __________ OF 2016
7. Copy of the web-page showing the brochure being uploaded on 09-05-2016 and copies of t h e r e l e van t e x t r a c t o f syllabus of the CET from brochures for 5-year and 3-year examination and copies of noti f ication regarding eligibility dated 07-05-2016
G
colly
TO
8. C o p i e s o f M a h a r a s h t r a Unaided Private Professional, Educat ional Inst i tut ions (Regulations of Admission and Fees) Act, 2015 and the Maharashtra Unaided Private Professional, Educational Institutions (Regulations of Admission to the Full-time professional Undergraduate Law courses) Rules, 2016 made thereunder.
H
colly
TO
Copy of the notification dated 3 0 - 0 5 - 2 0 1 6 e x t e n d i n g deadline for submission of the examination form.
I TO
9. Copy of the judgment of the Bombay High Court in the matter of Govinddas M. S h r o f f v . S t a t e o f Maharashtra reported in 1997 (1) Mah. L.R. 545 –FB mandating publication of change in admission rules 6 monts prior to examination.
J TO
Last page
DISTRICT:-MUMBAI
Shalini H. Kotian; Through his father and natural guardian: ….. PETITIONER
VERSUS The State of Maharashtra And others ….RESPONDENTS
SYNOPSIS
SR NO
DATES PARTICULARS OF THE EVENTS
1) The Petitioner has passed her class XII exams and is aspir ing to pursue undergraduate degree in law.
2) T i l l t h e c u r r e n t y e a r t h e a d m i s s i o n s i n a l l t h e l a w c o l l e g e s i n M a h a r a s h t r a including ILS, Pune or GLC, Mumbai were based on class XII r e s u l t s . H o w e v e r , f o r t h e academic year 2016-17 onwards the Government of Maharashtra h a s i n t r o d u c e d a C o m m o n Entrance Test to be conducted u n d e r t h e d i r e c t i o n o f t h e C o m m i s s i o n e r a t e o f S t a t e Common Entrance Test Cell for all the law colleges in the State.
3) While there is nothing wrong in introducing a uniform admission standard across all law colleges in Maharashtra, the manner in which the common law entrance test has been introduced and the amount of chaos it has caused, is cer ta in ly v io lat ive o f the fundamental right to education and the right to equality of the petitioner.
4) 04-12-2015 The G.R . da ted 04-12-2015 notified the introduction of the CET for admission to 5 year as well as 3 year courses in law starting from the academic year 2016-17 to be conducted under the aiges of the Commissioner, State Common Entrance Test Cell. However, it is conspicuous that the G.R. does not make a mention of the syllabus for the entrance examination or even the time period within which such syllabus would be notified.
5) The petitioner had kept a regular check on the official website of the Commissionarate of State Common Entrance Cell for any u p d a t e o n t h e s y l l a b u s o r pattern of the MAH-LAW CET exam to be conducted for the admissions in academic year 2016-17. The petitioner did not find a single notification with regards to the same and had begun to feel that the CET was probably pushed to the next a c a d e m i c y e a r , a n d t h a t admissions would be carried out based on the earlier method of class XII results itself.
7) 13-04-2015 However, to the utter shock of the petitioner, she was intimated by some of her friends who were also aspiring to undertake an education in law, that there was a private website on the internet which had some information with regards to the MAH-LAW CET exam to be conducted for the admissions in academic year 2 0 1 6 - 1 7 , i n c l u d i n g t h e deadlines, a vague outline of s y l l a b u s a n d l i n k t o t h e application forms to be available from May 10, 2016 as well as some information with regards to t h e p u b l i c a t i o n o f m a r k s , counseling etc, which was posted on 13-04-2016.
8) As a matter of fact, there is no information on the website of the State Common Entrance Test Cell, with regards to the MAH-LAW CET exam to be conducted for the admissions in academic year 2016-17 apart from the mention of MHT-CET and FAQ’s relating to MHT-CET. A l so , the he lp l ine numbers available on official websites are only for the ‘Health Science courses’ and ‘Engineering and Phar macy ’ courses , none o f which were aware about the law CET or the syllabus for the same.
9) 1997 The full bench of the Bombay High Court in the matter of Govinddas M. Shroff v. State of Maharashtra reported in 1997 (1) Mah. L.R. 545 –FB has held in para 15 of the judgment that ‘section 65 requires that model rules for admission should be publ ished in the Univers i ty Gazette six months in advance in the interests of the students. It further held that “In fact section 65 is statutory recognition of well established principle that fair play requires that any major chance in the admission process should be made known to the students well in advance”. The present case is squarely covered by this judgment.
10) The total number of applications finally received for the MH-CET is nearly 28,000 whereas the total number of seats available in all the colleges across Maharashtra in 5-year and 3-year courses is nearly 34,000. Add to this disparity a general drop-out rate of 30%, nearly half the seats of law colleges are likely to go unfilled owing to the introduction of the CET.
POINTS FOR CONSIDERATION:
As set out in the grounds/ Petition
ACTS AND RULES:
1. THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
CITATIONS:
Govinddas M. Shroff v. State of Maharashtra reported in 1997 (1) Mah. L.R. 545 –FB.
PLACE: - MUMBAI [S.B.TALEKAR]
The notifications introducing the CET and stating its eligibility are issued under the Maharashtra under the Maharashtra Unaided Private Professional, Educational Ins t i tu t i ons (Regu la t i ons o f Admission and Fees) Act, 2015 and Rules framed thereunder, which cannot be made applicable to the Government or aided law colleges.
11) 18/19-06-2016 1. The petitioner apprehends that the Maharashtra Law CET would be conducted on 18-19 June 2016, without h a v i n g p r o v i d e d a c l e a r direction on the syllabus and p a t t e r n o f t h e C E T examination, and she having not applied to the CET would lose a year or the opportunity to pursue a degree in law.
12) Being aggrieved by the non-publicat ion of the syl labus/p a p e r p a t t e r n o f t h e M a h a r a s h t r a L a w C E T a n d apprehending that the same would be conducted on 18-19 J u n e 2 0 1 6 , t h e p e t i t i o n e r challenges legality, validity and correctness of the same, by way of this petition.
13) HENCE THIS WRIT PETITION
DATE:-13.06.2016 ADVOCATE FOR PETITIONER