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Journalism of Courage
MUMBAI, May 20: The deadlock over centralised degree admissions continues. Justice Y S Jahagirdar conducting the vacation bench of the Bombay High Court today refused to grant an ad interim stay on centralised admissions to the four student petitioners who had moved court on the issue.
However, this also does not ensure the full implementation of the centralisation scheme for the academic year 1997-98.
The matter will again come up for hearing in the regular bench of the High Court after the vacation on June 9 this year.
Giving the verdict in a courtroom packed with anxious-looking students, Justice Jahagirdar observed that in case the results of the HSC Board examinations are declared before June 9, the students will have the liberty to move Chief Justice M B Shah and seek the constitution of a division bench to hear the matter.
According to the officials in the divisional Sion office of Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, the HSC results are likely to be declared in the first week of June, as is the case every year.They feel there will be no departure from the norm in this matter.
The Mumbai University counsel, Rui Rodrigues, told Express Newsline: “The four petitioners, Yogeeta S Gokhale and others, had basically moved the vacation bench to challenge a circular issued by the University of Mumbai on January 31 this year on the subject of implementing centralisation from this year onwards. "However, our basic contention was that the case should be heard along with other similar cases pending in the High Court.”
The Principal Secretary of Higher and Technical Education, N L Lakhanpal, had earlier told this newspaper that the state may direct the colleges to follow last year’s admission pattern in case the HSC results are declared before the court gives its verdict on the matter.
While advocate J B Chinai appeared on behalf of the students, Additional Advocate General Bal Apte and Government Pleader R V Govilkar argued the case on behalf of the state today.
