Law Minister Arun Jaitley said in Ahmedabad on Thursday that the human resources development ministry's fee-cut order did not amount to an encroachment of the autonomy of the Indian Institutes of Management.

In the past fortnight, there have been different versions on the IIM issue from four Union ministers, who have visited Gujarat for campaigning.

While Union HRD minister Murli Manohar Joshi and Jaitley have stated that the fee cut does not amount to autonomy of the IIMs being threatened, Deputy PM L K Advani and Finance Minister Jaswant Singh have preferred not to address the issue directly, preferring to state that it will be sorted out after the elections.

• The IIM Controversy: Complete Coverage

Jaitley preferred not to answer questions on the impasse between the MHRD and the IIMs. He also refused to comment on the fee cut.

However, Jaitley said - "I do not think that the autonomy of the IIMs is affected because of the fee cut," and refused to elaborate further.

Union HRD Minister M M Joshi, who was in Vadodara earlier this week, had gone to the extent of saying that IIMs are government institutions and that autonomy does not mean having the freedom to do anything that one wishes.

Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh said earlier this week that while the fee cut and autonomy issues are the jurisdiction of the ministry of human resources development and that the finance ministry is not connected with these, there have not been any discussions between the two ministries for additional funding or even increasing funding to the IIMs from its own budget.

Meanwhile, the solicitors of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, will represent the institute before the Supreme Court on Friday.