Criteria fixed after results, admits IIM

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad on Friday accepted that it hid its eligibility criteria till Common Admission Test scores were disclosed, bolstering charges of foul-play made by several CAT toppers eliminated because of hidden pre-test cut-offs.

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad on Friday accepted that it hid its eligibility criteria till Common Admission Test scores were disclosed, bolstering charges of foul-play made by several CAT toppers eliminated because of hidden pre-test cut-offs.

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The IIM-A confession, in reply to a right to information (RTI) Act query, is likely to provide further ammunition to about 75 CAT toppers planning to file a writ petition in the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the second stage of IIM admissions. The second stage of admissions at many IIMs starts from Saturday.

These students have not been short-listed for the second stage because the IIMs either changed eligibility rules after the test or used criteria that were never disclosed before the test, as was revealed by HT on February 9. These criteria —Class X, XII and undergraduate marks — ruled out these CAT toppers from the second stage of IIM admissions despite aggregate and sectional CAT scores over the cut-offs set.

“The eligibility criteria for shortlisting candidates for Personal Interview [the second stage of admissions] were decided after publication of the CAT notice, were finalised on January 2, 2011. The date on which they were published was January 12, 2011,” the RTI Act response from Diptesh Ghosh, chairman of the IIM-A admissions panel states.

The students, who have now petitioned HRD minister Kapil Sibal, are arguing that they would never have applied for the CAT had they known they stood no chance. “Why have the IIMs wasted a year of our life, our money, time and our sacrifices,” questioned IIT Roorkee graduate Aditya Narang.