JOIN USThe Supreme Court has appointed former Union minister and senior advocate Salman Khurshid to suggest measures for ending the menace of high capitation fee being charged by medical and engineering colleges for admission to different courses.
A bench of Justices F M I Kalifullah and Shiva Kirti Singh noted that the practice was still prevalent in several states despite the ruling by the apex court’s 11-judge bench in TMA Pai Foundation and Islamic Academy cases, barring even private unaided institutions from seeking any capitation fees.
The apex court appointed Khurshid as amicus curiae to render assistance to the court in a bunch of matters on the point of creating a mechanism to deal with the problem.
The bench also directed the chief secretaries of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra to ensure that all the requisite information was provided to Khurshid on the issue.
Karnataka’s counsel submitted that there already existed a law in the state to curb this practice.
However, the bench was little impressed as they said, “We are not sure whether in spite of the said legislation, the said practice could be effectively curbed. We are, therefore, of the view that we should get appropriate support to find out whether this practice can be put to an end by getting a detailed report based on an in-depth study.”