Kerala High Court upholds order on Management Aptitude Test

Kochi: Kerala High Court has upheld the Admission Supervisory Committee's (ASC) order that Management Aptitude Test (MAT) conducted by All India Management Association shall not be reckoned as an approved eligibility test after May 2016. The petitioners Divya Shaji and Swathy O., both of Pathanamth-itta, moved the court challenging the order passed by the ASC based on which their approval of admission has been turned down, holding that they were not duly qualified.

A division bench refused to interfere with the single bench order and upheld the decision. The petitioners also challenged the ASC order in June against entrance examinations conducted by non-governmental agencies for MBA. Only KMAT of the Universities in Kerala under the supervision of the ASC, CAT of the Indian Institute of Management and CMAT of the AICTE are accepted.

The petitioners sought a declaration that they are entitled to continue studies, contending that the ASC does not have power, jurisdiction or competence to issue the order. They further argued that they belonged to NRI category who stand on a different footing, and by virtue of settled law on the subject, particularly the verdict passed by a Division Bench that it is not necessary for the NRI candidates to clear any eligibility test for getting admissions for the professional courses.