CMAT For MBA Admissions Stands Cancelled As Per The Delhi High Court

Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) has been cancelled by the Delhi High Court (HC) after interrogating the rights and authority of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to carry out entrance examinations for admissions to management colleges. 

The AICTE undertakes the CMAT for selecting eligible candidates for admission to over 4,000 b-schools offering MBA and other 500 colleges running PG diploma in management programmes.  CMATs a computer-based test is conducted tow times in a year. The former test held somewhere in September/ October and the latter one in February for admission to a single academic session.

Claiming AICTE not having any authority to regulate MBA courses, the division bench of the HC, led by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, claimed invalid for the AICTE's exam notification. Bench further stated that the MBA programmes do not get considered under technical education as defined in the AICTE Act. Hence, AICTE cannot control MBA admissions.

It all started with petitions from The Federation of Association of Management of Unaided Professional Educational Institutions of India (FAMUPEII) appealing and questioning the HC division bench of the AICTE’s powers of conducting entrance test for management programmes.

Former to this, the Supreme Court ordered on April 25 ruling that the AICTE  have no right of authority to control or regulate professional courses of colleges,  affiliated to various universities. The High Court in its present order kept the earlier SC order in observation.

In the 25^th April’s Supreme Court order,  judges B S Chauhan and V Gopala Gowda ruled it. Stating that however MCA is a technical course, yet the AICTE could not put down the standards.

To bring in an ordinance of restoring AICTE’S power, the ministry of HRD was considering this, however no progress has been made on this matter as yet.