Madras HC orders notice to Centre on plea to declare CET void

Chennai, July 24 (PTI) The Madras High Court has ordered issuance of notice to the Centre on a petition seeking to declare the Common Entrance Test held by the Indian Maritime University as null and void.

The CET, conducted on June 8, was for the academic year 2024-2025 with respect to three courses and the petitioner sought the test to be declared null and void for not having provided proper information on the test, and for not framing proper guidelines and norms for the examination.

Justice Anita Sumanth also ordered notice to the Directorate General of Shipping and Indian Maritime University on the petition filed by S Sidharth, represented by his father.

The petitioner sought to accept him as an eligible student for admission by any one of the recognized institutions to the Maritime Education course for which he appeared for the examination on June 8.

On April 21, 2024 he learnt of an advertisement in an English daily about the CET to be conducted for three Maritime Courses namely B.Tech (Marine Engineering), B.Sc (Nautical Science) and Diploma in Nautical Science, he added.

The advertisement was misleading and there was no clarity if it was meant for all institutions or IMU alone. There were about 160 institutions spread out all over India and around 15 such institutions in Tamil Nadu alone.

Total number of seats available in all colleges put together was about 7,000 and in Tamil Nadu alone about 3,000, he noted.

The petitioner said once the students completed these courses they were having heavy chances for immediate absorption by Merchant Shipping Companies. The advertisement lacked many particulars and details. A calculated and deliberate attempt was made to discourage people from downtrodden and poor walk of life to get education or to achieve any economic growth or improvement within social status, he claimed.

The petitioner also pointed out that the applicants were suddenly informed that the examination would be conducted on an electronic gadget, namely a computer provided at the centre. Students hailing from backward and rural areas may not have any chance to use or operate computers or to work on the computer. All along they write their examination by hand on a sheet of paper, he added.

The manner in which the CET was conducted was not satisfactory.

Moreover, the examination was conducted only through a private agency, he added.

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