The Madras High Court has said the 'founder's quota" at Dr Alagappa Chettiar College of Engineering and Technology, now run by Tamil Nadu government, is illegal and directed it not to fill up 12 seats "earmarked" under the same.
Passing an interim order, the First Bench,comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice P Devadass said Prima facie it appeared that reservation of 12 seats under founder's quota was illegal as per an order of the Supreme Court.
"There will, therefore be an interim order directing the authorities of the State to proceed with the selection of candidates," it said.
"However, no admission shall be made under the founder's quota until further orders of this court," the Bench said and added that admissions may however be made in the general quota and other quotas, if any.
The bench passed the interim order on a PIL petition by one E Sankar,an advocate,seeking a declaration that admission of students in the college under the quota was illegal, void, and contrary to the provisions of Tamil Nadu Admission in Professional Educational Institutions Act, 2006.
He alleged that non eligible candidates and did not have the prescribed cut-off marks had been admitted under the guise of this Quota and a huge racket was going on every year by literally selling a few government seats.
The college is run by Dr. Alagappa Chettiar Educational Trust, a public trust.In 1985, the trustees agreed to hand over colleges under the trust with all properties attached to the government. The government had decided to accept the offer of transfer and to take over certain liabilities, Sankar said.
Contrary to admission procedures and various rules, provision was made for admission of certain number of students nominated by the persons claiming to be the family of the college founder, both at the Guindy campus here and at the Karaikudi campus in the name of the founder's quota.
These admissions can only be regulated under Tamil Nadu Admission in Professional Educational Institutions Act, under which all seats in government colleges can be filled only by the appropriate authority on the basis of marks got by students in the relevant subjects, the petitioner contended.
He submitted that the trust and trustees had no right to fill up government seats as per their whims and fancies and it took away valuable rights of meritorious students.
The permission to trustees to fill up the seats under the founder's quota on their own was contrary to Act, he submitted and sought a direction to declare the quota as illegal.
When the matter came up last week, the First Bench issued notice to Government Pleader M K Subramanian on behalf of the State government and A L Gandhimathi for AICTE and M Vijayakumar, counsel for Anna University and directed them to file counter affidavits by June 6 and posted the matter for further hearing to June 14.
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