The Maharashtra government issued a notification in May this year that said, CET would be held for all Class 10 students across all boards, based on which they would be able to choose their preferred college while taking admission to Class 11.

The division bench of Justices R D Dhanuka and R I Chagla quashing the notification said, “The state government does not have the power to issue such a notification and this court can intervene in an extreme case of gross injustice, such as this.”

The court said even if a petition challenging the notification was not filed, this was a fit case for the court to take suo motu (on its own) notice. “If the CET is allowed to be held, then a large number of students would be exposed and would face a threat to life. This would have a cascading effect,” the bench said in its order.

The HC passed the order on a petition filed by Ananya Patki, a student of Mumbai’s IES Orion School and intervention pleas filed by four IGCSE students. The petitions described the state government’s decision to hold the CET as “discriminatory”.

Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, who represented the Maharashtra government, had earlier argued that admissions would be given to all students, but those who want colleges of their choice must take the CET. He said the state was competent to issue the CET notification, which is “optional” and will be conducted by following all COVID-19 protocols.

Advocate Yogesh Patki, the petitioner’s father, had told the HC that the decision was taken in a “haphazard manner” and the exam date was conveyed on a “short notice” on July 19. This violated Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution and would cause problems as lakhs of non-vaccinated students in the 15-16 age group would have to appear for the offline test, he had said.

The court also directed the state government to start the admission of students for Class 11 by considering their Class 10 marks and internal assessments, and complete the admission process within a period of six weeks.

(With inputs from agencies)