The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday struck down a notification by the AP Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) for conducting admissions to intermediate colleges online. The court ordered the BIE to conduct in-person admissions for the coming academic year, according to reports. Justice U Durgaprasad Rao, in his verdict, said that there was no legal basis for the notification issued by BIE for online admissions and that no effort had been made to protect the interest of the beneficiaries. The admissions can now be held in person.
The court also said that its verdict does not prevent the Andhra Pradesh government from enacting legislation and framing rules for online admissions in the state. The court was hearing a petition filed by Central Andhra Junior College Managements Association secretary Devarapalle Ramanan Reddy and others. The petitioners had challenged the introduction of the new online admissions system from the current academic year.
The court said that policymakers should consider the rights of beneficiaries before adopting a new system for admissions. The court also told the state to widely publicise if such initiatives are adopted. The BIE had told the court that admissions to colleges will be on the basis of merit since all Class 10 students had been declared passed, reported The New Indian Express. It had also told the court that several lakh students had already applied for admissions online. The first phase of online admissions was carried out from August 13 to August 23 and the second phase was held from September 1 to September 7. The court found fault with the BIE’s stand on merit as criteria for admissions and said that the new system cannot be supported based on these arguments.
Justice Durgaprasad also observed that the Andhra Pradesh government should have farmed the college admission rules themselves and should not have transferred the right to the colleges. In the meantime, BIE Secretary V Ramakrishna told The Hindu on Tuesday that the seat allocation for the first phase of admissions will be released shortly. The details of the registration and subsequent procedure is available on the BIE website at https://bie.ap.gov.in.