A resident of Panchkula has approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging the practice, adopted by several management institutes, of charging hefty application fees even before the results of aptitude tests are declared.

Taking note of the petition filed by advocate Abhineet Taneja, the High Court has issued notices to the All India Council of Technical Education, University Grant Commission (UGC) and Ministry of Human Resource Development asking them to explain the rationale behind the norm. The petitioner has also made as many as 32 management institutes, including Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, and University Business School, Chandigarh, parties to the case. However, no notices have been issued to them.

At present, a majority of management institutes in the country, which interview candidates for admission in MBA courses on the basis of aptitude tests like CAT and XAT, make it mandatory for students to deposit the application amount beforehand. The application fees vary from Rs 900 to Rs 1,500.

Terming this practice as a "profit-earning exercise", the petitioner averred that since the application fees charged are so high that a candidate is unable to apply to all institutes of his choice. Also, after declaration of result, if the marks obtained by a candidate are not sufficient to clear a particular institute's cut-off grade, then the deposited money is not refunded.