FYJC Class 11 CET 2021: A division bench of Justices RD Dhanuka and RI Chagla ruled, “The state government does not have the jurisdiction under law to make such a notification, and this court can interfere in an extreme situation of egregious unfairness, such as this.”
Maharashtra FYJC CET 2021: The Bombay High Court has ordered the Maharashtra government to annul the Class 11 or First Year Junior College (FYJC) admission examination, which was instituted after the cancellation of Class 10 or SSC board exams. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 epidemic, the High Court stated it was a “gross injustice” that would endanger kids’ lives. The test was supposed to take place on August 21.
“The state government does not have the legal authority to make such a notification, and this court can interfere in an extreme situation of flagrant injustice, such as this,” Justices RD Dhanuka and RI Chagla wrote for a split bench.
Even if a petition contesting the exam had not been filed, the court said it would have taken suo motu (on its own) notice.
“If the CET is permitted to take place, a substantial number of pupils would be exposed and confront a life-threatening situation, which will have a cascade effect,” the bench wrote in its ruling.
The Maharashtra government was also exploring a CET for non-professional course admissions, with a final decision expected after the Class 12 or HSC results. However, Minister of Higher and Technical Education Uday Samant has stated that no such admission exam will be held.
For Class 11, the FYJC CET was optional, however, those who took it were given priority in admissions. The remaining places were to be filled using Class 10 grades.
Ananya Patki, a student at Mumbai’s IES Orion School, which is connected with the CISCE board, filed a petition contesting the judgment, as well as intervention requests from four IGCSE students.
The state government was previously urged by the HC bench to consider creating an expert panel consisting of representatives from several school boards to decide the test syllabus in a previous hearing.
The state government cannot determine the curriculum for all students who have not graduated from the state board, according to the bench, and the government should instead allow individual boards to decide their own syllabus.
Poornima Kantharia, the state government’s lawyer, told the court that allowing multiple boards to select their own syllabuses would be impossible, and that, in addition to the ICSE and CBSE boards, the International Baccalaureate (IB) board also sought to be included as a party.
“All of these various boards would want their own syllabus to be included (in the CET),” Mr Kantharia had told the court.
