MADURAI: Lifting the interim stay on the release of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rank list for this year, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently dismissed a PIL petition alleging malpractices and lack of transparency in its evaluation.
The direction came after the union government stated that a scientific method prescribed by an expert body is being followed for publication of the NIRF rank list.
A division bench of justices J Nisha Banu and S Srimathy passed the orders on the plea moved by C Chellamuthu of Dindigul who stated that the NIRF rankings are calculated merely based on the data provided by the educational institutions on their website without any verification or auditing.
As a result, many institutions submit false data to boost their ranking so as to attract students and multinational corporations (MNC), he claimed.
The Additional Solicitor General of India, appearing for the Union Ministry of Education stated that there is a separate scientific method that is being followed for publication of the NIRF rank list and that the method is prescribed by an expert body.
After perusing the materials placed before it, the court said the plea is premature and dismissed it.