Produce specimen consensual agreement with college associations, Karnataka High Court tells govt

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Monday directed the state government to produce a specimen consensual agreement between the state and the association of management of unaided professional colleges.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice KV Aravind sought this in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the method of admission based on consensual agreements.

The petitioner, Bengaluru-based advocate Ajoy Kumar Patil, argued that the consensual agreement is entered into under Section 4 (A) of the Karnataka Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Determination of Fee) Act, 2006. He stated that under this provision, 5% of management quota seats are fixed by arriving at a consensual agreement with the association of unaided professional institutions. This results in a total of 20% of seats being filled by the management, ignoring merit.

The petitioner said the process violates the Supreme Court judgment in the PA Inamdar case and also Article 14 of the Constitution of India. He claimed that these agreements are entered into every year with only the fee changing. He highlighted a significant discrepancy between the fees for merit students and those under the management/private quota.

The advocate said if the fee for a merit student for the medical seat is Rs 1 lakh, it is Rs 44 lakh for these other seats, on par with NRI seats. Over five-and-a-half years, a student will end up paying Rs 2.5 crore,” the advocate said.

“Along with the reply, the respondents shall produce a specimen agreement entered into between the government and the association of managements under Section 4 (A) of the Act,” the bench stated.