The Bombay High Court on Thursday allowed private unaided management institutions to conduct their own test to admit students to post graduate diploma in business management (PGDBM) course. The court set aside the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) notice, dated December 29, 2010, to the state government to conduct a Common Entrance Test for admission to the course offered by 81 private unaided management institutions across Maharashtra.

A consortium of 52 of these institutions and the IITs had challenged the notice in court. The private entrance tests admitted by the court are CAT conducted by IIMs, MAT by All India Management Association, JMET conducted by IITs, XAT conducted by Xavier Labour Relations Institute, Jamshedpur and ATMA conducted by Association of Indian Management Schools.

The institutes had contended that they have the right to select candidates as they were in no way dependent on the state government. Counsel for the consortium, Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, pointed that it was impossible for them to conduct a CET as subjects offered by the colleges varied. Anil Anturkar and Rui Rodrigues, counsels for AICTE, submitted that the consortium represented only 52 of the 81 management institutions in the state and if all institutions joined the consortium, the AICTE would have no objection.