The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to allow students who have cleared the JEE (Main) Test to participate in the counseling held for admission to BArch courses. Admitting two writ petitions in this regard, Justice N Anand Venkatesh on Monday said, "The issue that has been raised in the present writ petitions requires consideration. However, the counselling is starting from October 27. In order to balance the rights of the students, there shall be an interim direction directing the Anna University and the Commissioner of Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions to permit the students who have qualified through JEE (Main) 2021 to participate in the counseling for BArch course."
The interim order is subject to the final outcome of the petitions.In view of the fact that the students who had taken the JEE (Main) Test were not able to submit their application online, they will be permitted to participate in the counselling and submit the relevant documents physically at the time of counselling, the judge ordered.
Directing the respondents to file their counter-affidavits, he posted the matter to November 9. The petitioners stated that till the academic year 2020-21, the students who cleared the aptitude test conducted by the National Aptitude Test in Architecture (NATA) and JEE (Main) Test were considered eligible for admissions to BArch course in Tamil Nadu.
This position was made clear by a Government Order issued by the Higher Education Secretary based on which a communication was issued to the Director of Chennai Academy of Architecture and Design. However, when the prospectus for 2021-22 was issued, it was mentioned that only NATA marks will be considered for BArch admission.They stated that this went completely against the information bulletin published by the National Testing Agency (NTA) which makes it clear that JEE (Main) examination paper-II is conducted for admission to BArch and BPlanning courses in the entire country. It is also made clear that the same will be considered for admission to government engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu as well.
