The gate of Bethune College, where students were barred if they failed to produce their Class XII admit cards. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

Bethune College barred several students from taking the admission test for English honours on Friday for not carrying their original documents, triggering an uproar that could have led to the examination being disrupted without police intervention.

About 50 protesters, including parents and guardians of the students, tried to gatecrash after being told that nobody without her original admit card for the Class XII examination would be allowed to sit for the test. A team from Burtola police station held them at the entrance to the college and ensured that the test was held.

The students who could not take the test claimed nobody from Bethune had told them that they would have to produce the original admit cards issued by their respective Class XI boards to be considered eligible for the test.

“I came all the way from Malda to take the test. The college authorities should have mentioned clearly in the admission notice on its website that we need to produce the original admit cards,” said Suruchi Gupta.

Ankita Ghosal from Konnagar, in Hooghly, had brought with her a photocopy of the Higher Secondary examination admit card but was refused permission to write the test.

Metro saw a notice on the college board, instructing students applying for a seat in the English department to carry their original admit cards and the receipts issued by the college on payment of application fees. This part of the notice was in bold, italicised and underlined.

The same notice was on the college’s official website, from where forms were downloaded by the candidates.

“The online notice has been there since May 24 and the one on the college notice board from the next day, which is more than a week before distribution of forms started,” principal Monimala Das said.

Of the 878 girls who applied for English honours seats, 772 took the admission test.