400 to lose seat as HC orders new merit list for J&K migrants

More than 400 Jammu and Kashmir migrant students, after securing admission to engineering colleges in Maharashtra under the J&K migrant quota, will have to pull out after the Bombay high court asked the directorate of technical education (DTE) to draw up a fresh merit list for students.

The last-minute change was announced a week after the entrance exams, leaving students -- who had not appeared for the examination -- without an option of doing so.

The high court has now asked DTE to put on hold the admission given to around 400 students under the quota and draw up a new merit list on the basis of the students' Class 12 scores.

With August 10 as the deadline for completing the admission process, the court has directed the DTE to come up with list before the stipulated date. "We will come out with a new merit list this week and the process of admission will start soon after,” said SD Yavalakar, deputy director, DTE.

With the HC directive, students who had scored low marks in the board exams but secured admission due to the change in rule will be left in the lurch and might approach the high court, said sources.

“There are more than 800 seats available under the J&K quota, of which only 400 were filled. All the aggrieved students will get seats as there are only a few applications in the first place,” claimed a senior DTE official.