SC Revises Counseling Schedule for Engineering Admissions
The Supreme Court has revised the counseling schedule for engineering colleges for the academic year 2014-15 on Thursday. As a result of this decision the last date of the first round counseling of Anna University, Tamil Nadu will now be extended. The counseling will now be completed by July 15 instead of June 30. The second and third rounds will have to be completed by July 22 and July 29 respectively, instead of July 10 and July 30 as decided earlier. The commencement of the session was scheduled for August 1st remains the same, with a last admission date of August 15 in case of exigencies.
The orders were passed by a vacation bench consisting of Justice Vikramajit Sen and Shiva Kirti Singh. In a decision given on an application submitted by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), seeking an extension of the schedule decided in an earlier judgement in the Parshvanath Charitable Trust and others v/s AICTE case, the court directed the AICTE to complete the process of approvals of 521 engineering colleges within 7 days from 26th June (Thursday), and adjusted the counseling schedule for engineering admissions accordingly.
The AICTE has claimed that it has received over 7,200 applications from various technical institutions around the country, out of which over 6,750 applications have been processed. The AICTE has asked for extension of a week to complete the process. The court has expressed satisfaction that the AICTE is doing its level best to complete the backlog, and will be able to clear the remaining applications if a week’s extension is granted. Hence, Anna University, Tamil Nadu has also been directed to reschedule its counseling for engineering admissions.
The court has further said that AICTE should first take up applications in which it has already committed to grant an approval, but had not done so because of court orders. After doing so, the concerned Universities/State Authorities and bodies would take a decision within a week; hence the extension of counseling dates by 15 days. All colleges who have received approval for admission of engineering students for the Academic Year 2014-15 would maintain status quo, and shall be considered as approved.