HC dismisses plea to publish NIRF rankings after comparing institutions' and govt.'s data
The court was hearing the petition filed by C. Chellamuthu of Oddanchatram in Dindigul district, who claimed that the NIRF ranking was totally without any basis and it was misleading the students. He said the NIRF was launched by the NBA on the directions of the Ministry of Education for evaluating higher education institutions in the country. The NBA published the NIRF rankings of colleges every year, he said.
The rankings were based on methodologies that were not disclosed and did not reflect the genuine academic excellence of the institutions. The evaluation was flawed, and the rankings were awarded based on the data received from the institutions. The data submitted was manipulated. There was no transparency or accountability regarding the data submitted by the institutions, the petitioner alleged.
He said instead of collecting data from government websites, institutions were invited to submit data online and malpractices were predominantly committed by private institutions.
The Centre told the Division Bench of Justices J. Nisha Banu and S. Srimathy that a separate scientific method, prescribed by an expert body, was being followed.
The court observed that upon perusal of the materials available on record, it was seen that the petition was premature. There was no data before the court to compare and determine the correctness of the rankings. The court was not inclined to entertain the petition, it observed, adding that if the petitioner was aggrieved after the publication of the list, he might challenge it with the evidence.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Indian Express
6 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Form SOP to deal with cyberattacks on women: Madras HC
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the Government of India to evolve a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to deal with cyberattacks against women, including the uploading and sharing of intimate videos and images recorded without their consent on digital platforms and social media. Justice N Anand Venkatesh granted two weeks to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to submit the SOP in the court and said appropriate orders on the matter would be passed after perusing the SOP. The union government's counsel, A Kumaraguru, informed the court that the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Women and Child Development are already working on finalising an SOP. The direction was issued by the judge while hearing a petition filed by a woman advocate seeking a direction to the centre to take immediate action to remove from digital platforms her intimate videos and images shot and uploaded without her consent by her ex-partner.
New Indian Express
6 hours ago
- New Indian Express
‘Oraniyil TN' case: Madras HC rejects DMK's request for urgent hearing
MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday turned down DMK's request for an urgent hearing over a PIL petition that sought action against the party for alleged unauthorised collection of personal data of voters under the guise of 'Oraniyil Tamil Nadu' campaign. Appearing through video conference before a bench of justices S M Subramaniam and A D Maria Clete on Tuesday morning, senior counsel P Wilson, who represented DMK, contended that petitioner S Rajkumar has made false allegations and that DMK cadre did not collect Aadhaar details during the enrolment drive. Claiming that an interim order was obtained by making false charges, Wilson requested the court to take up the matter for urgent hearing. However, the judges refused and told him to file an impleading petition. On Monday, Rajkumar alleged that DMK cadre demanded personal identification documents of voters. They also got the mobile numbers of voters and enrolled them as members of the party by verifying a One Time Password (OTP) sent to their number. Hearing this, the bench ordered an interim injunction restraining DMK from sending OTP verification messages to individuals and adjourned the case for two weeks.
The Hindu
14 hours ago
- The Hindu
Protection from revealing identity must be extended to all victims of sexual offences; not just rape and POCSO Act cases, T.N. govt. tells Madras HC
State Public Prosecutor (SPP) Hasan Mohamed Jinnah on Tuesday suggested to the Madras High Court the existing statutory as well as judicial bar on revealing the identity of victims of rape and child sexual offences must be extended to victims of all kinds of sexual offences. Appearing before Justice N. Anand Venkatesh, the SPP said, the judicial magistrates in the State could also henceforth direct the police to submit the First Information Reports (FIRs), related to all kinds of sexual offences, only in sealed covers in order to prevent disclosure of identity. The SPP pointed out Section 72 (a corresponding provision to Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) prescribes a two year prison term for those who print or publish any matter which had revealed the identity of victims of select offences. Section 72 states the identity of the victims of rape, gang rape, sexual intercourse by husband upon his wife during separation, sexual intercourse by a public servant by misusing official authority and sexual intercourse by employing deceitful means should not be printed or published. Further, the Supreme Court in the famous Nipun Saxena versus Union of India case, decided in December 2018, had ordered that the identity of victims of rape and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act offences should not disclosed in print, electronic as well as social media. The top court further ordered that FIRs related to such offences should not be made available in the public domain and that the police must keep all documents, containing the identity of the victim, in a sealed cover. The orders were issued to all States and Union Territories in the country. Mr. Jinnah suggested this protection need not be confined only to victims of rape and POCSO offences and that it could be extended to victims of all kinds of sexual offences. He made the submission during the hearing of a writ petition filed by a woman advocate against circulation of her private videos in the internet. Representing her, senior counsel Abudu Kumar Rajaratnam told the court the Union Ministries of Housing and Urban Affairs, Home Affairs and Electronics and Information Technology had convened a national conference on 'Making Cities Cyber Secure' in New Delhi on July 18, 2025. The conference had brought together key stakeholders to address growing cybersecurity challenges and discussed the appointment of Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs). Mr. Rajaratnam said, the CISOs could serve as nodal officers to help women whose private images and videos reach the internet. After recording the submissions made by the SPP and the senior counsel, Justice N. Anand Venkatesh granted time till August 5 for the Ministry of Home Affairs to come up with a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to be followed for assisting women facing agony due to cyber threats. During the course of hearing of the case, the judge said: 'Though sexually explicit private videos of men also get circulated on the internet, no man ever bothers about that. It is the only the women who suffer because of the way in which the society treats them and makes them feel ashamed.'
