MP: HC fines varsity Rs 5 lakh for admission norms violation

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has imposed a cost of Rs 5 lakh on Sagar-based Dr Harisingh Gour University for violating the state government's norms on admission to the B.Ed course in its affiliated colleges.

The central institution conducted a university-level entrance test for admission to B.Ed course in colleges affiliated to it for the 2019-20 session, instead of following the state government's centralised online counselling procedure, government advocate Hemanshu Mishra told PTI on Thursday.

The university's academic programme committee (APC) ignored the interim directives passed by the high court earlier and continued with the university-level admission process, he said.

While hearing some petitions against this admission process, a division bench of acting Chief Justice R S Jha and Justice Vishal Dhagat on Monday directed the university to recover the cost of Rs 5 crore from members of its APC.

It directed the university to deposit the amount with the MP High Court Legal Services Authority at Jabalpur within four weeks, Mishra said.

The court disposed of two petitions - one filed by a group of students and another by some private institutions - against the admission process adopted by the university.

It issued directions to the state government to safeguard interests of the students who were given admissions through the university-level counselling.

It also directed the varsity authorities concerned to submit a written undertaking before the court and the state higher education department within 15 days, stating that henceforth they will comply with norms and in case of violation, punitive action be taken against them.

The high court also gave liberty to students, whose admissions have been cancelled, to launch proceedings against the university for seeking compensation.