TISS in trouble as Bombay HC seeks clarity regarding the admission process of the MA program

Mumbai's Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) was recently pointed out for its irregularities related to the admissions of the Master in Arts (MA) in Applied Psychology program. Addressing the same in a hearing on Friday, December 11, the Bombay High Court (HC) stated that the officials had fraudulently assigned seats to students from the open category when they were to be assigned to the applicants from the OBC category.

Petition regarding the same was filed Anshruta Deepkumar, a resident of Pune, who gave her entrance exam at TISS with a hope to join the course. The case was moved to the High Court later whereby questions were raised regarding the admissions. 

The statement was passed by the bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Girish Kulkarni, who called this move as 'fishy' and also pointed out that some admissions were cancelled, post which they were referred to the Chennai campus for the joining. As said in the hearing, there were errors identified during the first round of admissions. 

Advocate Akash Menon has questioned the process and Anshruta claimed to have secured a rank for the course after passing the exam successfully with the desired cut-off marks, however, her admission was denied by the institute. She has now demanded TISS for the admissions to start afresh and seeks admission at one the campuses, as the number of applications has been increased.

Addressing the petition, TISS released an affidavit stating that the course had begun in August 2020, and it would not be right for a candidate to join at this phase of the course keeping the lost time and attendance in consideration. Currently, the program is running as scheduled, and the first semester is closer to the end. Adding more, TISS officials stated that Anshruta was on the waiting list, in the 12th position, however, all the seats, at both the campuses, were full.

The HC, however, has asked TISS to share information regarding the proposed procedure to fill the seats vacant currently. The hearing for the same will be held on Monday, December 14, 2020.