The Delhi High
Court (HC) has cancelled the common management admission test (CMAT),
questioning the authority of the All India Council for Technical
Education (AICTE) to conduct entrance exams for admission to management
colleges.
The AICTE conducts the Common Management Admission Test - CMAT as an entrance test for admission to 4,000 management colleges that offer MBA and 500 colleges which run postgraduate diploma in management programs. CMAT is a computer based test that is conducted twice a year - first in September/ October and again in February for admission to a single academic session.
A division bench of the HC, led by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, cancelled AICTE's notification for the exam, saying AICTE did not have the authority to regulate MBA courses. The bench also said that the MBA courses don't fall under technical education as defined in the AICTE Act.
The Federation of Association of Management of Unaided Professional Educational Institutions of India (FAMUPEII), the petitioners, had appealed to the division bench questioning the powers of the AICTE to conduct the entrance test.
"We are happy with the order. This means no more compulsory CMAT for B-schools," said GPC Nayar, president of the federation and chairman of School of Communication and Management Studies, Kerala told a leading national daily.
The High Court in its order has observed the Supreme Court order of April 25 which ruled that the AICTE did not have the authority to control or regulate professional colleges which are affiliated to universities. "...it is clear from the above said findings of the Supreme Court that the AICTE has no role to play either in the admission process or in subsequent monitoring of the said course..." the high court said. This order was given on 7 October, but made public only on Tuesday, 29 October.
However, Renu Bafna, chief coordinator, CMAT, AICTE, reportedly told the media, "There are other court decisions in the past where the court said there was no problem in AICTE conducting the entrance test. We have never said this would be the only entrance test. It is up to the state governments to decide and follow their own merit-list."
In the Supreme Court order issued in April, judges B S Chauhan and V Gopala Gowda ruled that though MCA was a technical course, the AICTE couldn't lay down the standards.
The court order had said, "An MBA course is not a technical course within the definition of the AICTE Act", and "an approval from the AICTE is not required for obtaining permission and running an MBA course by the appellant colleges."
The judges said the role of AICTE is advisory, which means it can prescribe uniform standards of education for affiliated members of a university by sending a note to the University Grants Commission.
The ministry of human resource development was considering to bring in an ordinance to restore AICTE's powers, but no progress has been made on this front.
Education Promotion Society for India (EPSI) said the high court order was a welcome move.
"It is vindication of our stand in the Supreme Court and elsewhere that the AICTE, being the statutory body, should confine itself only to the limited working area defined in the AICTE Act, 1987," said H Chaturvedi, Alternate President, EPSI and director, Birla Institute of Management Technology, Noida.
EPSI says it MBA tests like CAT, XAT and MAT are being conducted for the last several decades without any fiasco, and their reliability and credibility is well established.
"Regulatory bodies like UGC, AICTE and MCI should learn lessons from the recent landmark judgments of the Supreme Court and high courts. They should transform themselves from rigid bureaucratic frameworks and adopt nationwide consultation process with all stakeholders before framing any new policy," said EPSI.
The AICTE conducts the Common Management Admission Test - CMAT as an entrance test for admission to 4,000 management colleges that offer MBA and 500 colleges which run postgraduate diploma in management programs. CMAT is a computer based test that is conducted twice a year - first in September/ October and again in February for admission to a single academic session.
A division bench of the HC, led by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, cancelled AICTE's notification for the exam, saying AICTE did not have the authority to regulate MBA courses. The bench also said that the MBA courses don't fall under technical education as defined in the AICTE Act.
The Federation of Association of Management of Unaided Professional Educational Institutions of India (FAMUPEII), the petitioners, had appealed to the division bench questioning the powers of the AICTE to conduct the entrance test.
"We are happy with the order. This means no more compulsory CMAT for B-schools," said GPC Nayar, president of the federation and chairman of School of Communication and Management Studies, Kerala told a leading national daily.
The High Court in its order has observed the Supreme Court order of April 25 which ruled that the AICTE did not have the authority to control or regulate professional colleges which are affiliated to universities. "...it is clear from the above said findings of the Supreme Court that the AICTE has no role to play either in the admission process or in subsequent monitoring of the said course..." the high court said. This order was given on 7 October, but made public only on Tuesday, 29 October.
However, Renu Bafna, chief coordinator, CMAT, AICTE, reportedly told the media, "There are other court decisions in the past where the court said there was no problem in AICTE conducting the entrance test. We have never said this would be the only entrance test. It is up to the state governments to decide and follow their own merit-list."
In the Supreme Court order issued in April, judges B S Chauhan and V Gopala Gowda ruled that though MCA was a technical course, the AICTE couldn't lay down the standards.
The court order had said, "An MBA course is not a technical course within the definition of the AICTE Act", and "an approval from the AICTE is not required for obtaining permission and running an MBA course by the appellant colleges."
The judges said the role of AICTE is advisory, which means it can prescribe uniform standards of education for affiliated members of a university by sending a note to the University Grants Commission.
The ministry of human resource development was considering to bring in an ordinance to restore AICTE's powers, but no progress has been made on this front.
Education Promotion Society for India (EPSI) said the high court order was a welcome move.
"It is vindication of our stand in the Supreme Court and elsewhere that the AICTE, being the statutory body, should confine itself only to the limited working area defined in the AICTE Act, 1987," said H Chaturvedi, Alternate President, EPSI and director, Birla Institute of Management Technology, Noida.
EPSI says it MBA tests like CAT, XAT and MAT are being conducted for the last several decades without any fiasco, and their reliability and credibility is well established.
"Regulatory bodies like UGC, AICTE and MCI should learn lessons from the recent landmark judgments of the Supreme Court and high courts. They should transform themselves from rigid bureaucratic frameworks and adopt nationwide consultation process with all stakeholders before framing any new policy," said EPSI.
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