St Xavier’s College in Ahmedabad moves Gujarat high court over GCAS admission dispute

Ahmedabad: St Xavier’s College has approached the Gujarat high court against the state govt’s decision compelling it to join the Gujarat Common Admission Services (GCAS) system for admission of students to its undergraduate courses.

St Xavier’s is an autonomous college affiliated with Gujarat University. It has challenged the higher education department’s diktat to mandatorily participate in GCAS. Justice Nirzar Desai issued notice to the authorities concerned over the college’s petition and sought their responses by June 8, and posted further hearing on the first working day after the summer vacation.

Admissions across all govt universities and several private universities in Gujarat were conducted through the centralised GCAS platform. According to the regulations, all affiliated colleges of the public universities were required to admit students only through this system. Earlier, autonomous colleges attempted to carry out independent admission processes, but the higher education department insisted on their inclusion in GCAS, leading most of them to comply.

While St Xavier’s College joined the process last year, it has refused to do so this time. The college cited its autonomous status and minority institution rights, arguing that it was entitled to conduct its own admission process independently. Despite its refusal, the college was listed as an option in the GCAS choice-filling process.

Before the seat allotment process commenced, the college filed a petition in court, seeking clarity on its participation in GCAS.