New Delhi: The Supreme Court has rejected a plea by the government to restrain the admission process in 44 deemed universities which were to be derecognized. These universities may now be free to carry on with their admission procedure for the academic year 2010-2011.

The government had proposed to restrain these universities from taking students into their engineering and other courses involving technical education. This was because according to a report submitted by the Prof. P.N. Tandon Committee, these universities had failed to maintain their required educational standard.

The request of the Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) was rejected by the Bench, which included Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Gyan Sudha Misra. The Bench reasoned that the government was not in a position to stop the universities from admitting students as the varsities had questioned the validity of Prof. P.N. Tandon committee that was set up by the MHRD.

The universities, in their defence, said that they had acquired the deemed status from the University Grants Commission (UGC) and therefore only UGC had the authority to take away their status.

The Supreme Court Bench said that the universities in question had raised doubts over the government's judgment in appointing a head to the committee who was himself heading the administration of one such university, the National Brain Research Centre (NBRC) in Haryana.

The next Supreme Court hearing is set to be held on August 3. Till then, all of the universities in question are free to continue with their admission procedures for the upcoming academic year.