In view of Punjab floods, SC extends college admission cut-off date to October 30

As Punjab continues to face problems created by recent floods, the Supreme Court has extended the cut-off date for admission to colleges across the state till October 30 for 2025-26 academic session.

The order came from a Bench led by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai on an application filed by Punjab Unaided College Association (PUCA) representing the unaided colleges which conduct various professional, technical, management and diploma courses in the state.

“The application is necessary on account of the unprecedented situation in the State of Punjab, wherein many regions of Punjab have been affected by flood. In that view of the matter, we are inclined to extend the cut-off date for admission in the State of Punjab. The time to complete the process of admission is, accordingly, extended up to 30.10.2025,” the Bench — which also included Justice K Vinod Chandran — said in its October 7 order.

In its application, the association had sought modification/extension of cut-off date for counselling and admission of various under-graduate (UG) courses approved by the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) being conducted in unaided educational institutions in Punjab for the academic session 2025-26.

Citing “severe flood situation being faced by the State of Punjab”, the association submitted that students could not take admissions in various professional, technical, management and diploma courses of its constituent colleges and as such large number of seats were lying vacant and unless the top court relaxed/extended the cut-off date for affiliation by the university concerned and for counselling and admission process for the present academic year (2025-26), the counselling and admission process could not be completed.

PUCA president Anshu Kataria – who is also the chairman of Aryans Group of Colleges, Rajpura, Chandigarh, said the top court’s order has come as a major relief to students and educational institutions of Punjab.

“Earlier, the cut-off date for admissions was September 15 in the entire country. The students especially from flood-hit regions were not able to take admissions till that date. This extension till October 30 will help thousands of such students to secure admissions,” Kataria said.