SR. LOURDU MARY N. Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Two writ petitions raises a common question of law as to whether it is permissible for the Private Unaided Educational Institution to admit students who have not participated in the Common Entrance Test (CET) prescribed by the State Government only on the spacious ground that if the admissions are not granted, the seats in the Institution would waste.

(2.) Since both the petitions revolve around the common issue, we have heard the petitions together and dispose off by common judgment.

(3.) Two petitioners before us are the Nursing Colleges situated at Pachgani, taluka Mahabaleshwar, District Satara run by the Indian Red Cross Society, which is approved by Indian Nursing Council and affiliated by Maharashtra University of Health Science. It is not in dispute that the admissions to the said Colleges for B.Sc. (Nursing) Course is controlled by the Director of Medical College and Research and the Admission Regulating Authority, Mumbai. Both the petitioners Colleges are aggrieved by the communication issued to them by the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences by which the University had informed them that the names of the candidates who have been forwarded by the petitioners-colleges for registration to the Nursing Course cannot be granted since they were not admitted through the Common Entrance Test conducted by the Commissioner, CET and the said students had appeared in the NEET 2016 Examination instead of MHT-CET. The said communications from the University are impugned in both the writ petitions and it is prayed that the said communications be set aside and direction is sought to treat the students admitted by the petitioner institution to the B.Sc. Nursing Course as "duly admitted students" and permit the petitioners to conduct their admission process for basic "B.Sc. Nursing Course" and their examination form be accepted and they be permitted to appear for the examination and their results be declared.