Back
2003(5) Supreme 534
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
(From Himachal Pradesh High Court)
K.G. Balakrishnan & P. Venkatarama Reddi, JJ.
I.I.T.T. College of Engineering -Appellant
versus
State of H.P. & Ors. -Respondents
Civil Appeal No. 4167 of 2003
Decided on 8-8-2003
Counsel for the Parties :
For the Appearing Parties : A.M. Singhvi, Sr. Advocate, B.K. Sinha, A. Bhandari, Manoj Kumar, B.K. Satija, J.S. Attri, C. Badri Nath Babu, Bimal Roy Jad, Maninder Singh, Mrs. P.M. Singh, Ankur Talwar, Kriti Mann Singh, Advocates.
Constitution of India, Articles 19(1)(a) and 226 - All India Council for Technical Education, 1997 - Taking over of management of institution by Administrator -The college applied for additional course in IT- AICTE, refused to allow the same- The college applied again when AICTE accorded approval for additional course of IT on the recommendation of Expert Committee - However, the H. P. University, declined to grant its approval - The High Court held that the approval by AICTE did not result in automatic affiliation by the university - High Court however appointed Director of Technical Education, Vocational and Industrial Training, as Administrator for the college and temporarily takeover the management and administration of the college Not proper- . The obligation to make up the deficiencies and to improve the general academic atmosphere lay on the College Management, but no positive steps were taken- While appointing Administrator, The High Court did not realise that there was no provision under which the management of an unaided private college could be taken over by the Administrator-The management and administration of the college restored to the appellant - However, to protect the interests of the students by keeping up the tempo of improvements made by the Administrator and to have a check against mal-administration at least for sometime, the nominee of the Administrator, allowed to oversee the running of the institution and give necessary instructions to the Management in the interests of creating proper academic atmosphere [Paras10 to 13]
JUDGMENT
K.G. Balakrishnan, J.-Leave granted.
Heard the learned counsel for the appellant and respondents 1 to 4.
2. This appeal is preferred by I.I.T.T. College of Engineering represented through its Officiating Chairman. The Engineering College was started by a Society, by name, International Institute of Telecom Technology Society, Kala Amb, registered under the Societies Registration Act. The Society established the Engineering College at Sirmaur District in the State of Himachal Pradesh after obtaining initial permission from All India Council for Technical Education (for short AICTE) in 1997 and no objection certificate from the University and started four year degree courses in Electrical Engineering, Electronics & Communication Engineering and Computer Science & Engineering, with a maximum intake of 40 students in each discipline. The College sought permission to start a Degree course in Information Technology and extension of approval for the session 1998-99. For this purpose, an expert Team of AICTE visited the institution, on 28.3.1998. AICTE extended its approval on 31.7.1998 for the academic session 1998-99 with an intake of 140 students. The AICTE (4th respondent herein), however, did not accord its approval to the additional courses in Information Technology and Electronics and Instrumentation for the session 1998-99. The college again applied for extension of approval for the session 1999-2000 with a request for increasing intake and starting additional courses. The Expert Committee visited the institution on 16.2.1999 and recommended Information Technology as additional course with intake of 40. After considering the said report, the AICTE had accorded approval through its communication dated 27.7.1999 for the intake of 200 students including 40 in the additional course of Information Technology subject to fulfillment of norms and the conditions stipulated by the Council. However, the H.P. University, which had also sent its team for inspection in April, 1999, declined to grant its approval and affiliation for the I.T. Course. The University had also issued a press note on 12.8.1999 warning the students seeking admission to the said course. However, the students were admitted by the appellant-college on the basis of the approval granted by AICTE.
3. The question of extension of approval for the session 2000-2001 was again considered by AICTE in the light of the inspection reports of the Expert Committee. The AICTE, by its letter dated 24.7.2000, communicated the extension of approval with reduced intake of 160 subject to the conditions specified in Annexure-I. No approval was given for the Information Technology Course. In Annexure-I to the said letter, it was made clear that the permission for starting I.T. was withdrawn since the college had not made any attempt to provide proper infrastructure for this course. Moreover, the College Management was warned that the admissions to the existing three courses will be stopped from the next year if the deficiencies pointed out therein continued. By its communication dated 17.7.2000, the Registrar of the University advised the appellant- college to delete the IT course from the Prospectus for the academic session 2000-2001 and to issue a public notice to that effect. Faced with these two adverse communications from AICTE and University, the appellant filed a Writ Petition (C.W.P. No. 4104 of 2000) in Delhi High Court. The High Court stayed that part of the order dated 24.7.2000 deleting the seats in IT Course. The University by its letter dated 1.12.2000 informed the appellant-college that the admission/examination forms sent by the college for holding the first semester examination in I.T. were returned. The University made it clear by its further communication dated 4.12.2000 that no student who was admitted to I.T. course shall be allowed to appear in the first semester examination in the absence of affiliation from the University. At this stage, it appears tha
SupremeToday
An indispensable Tool for Legal Professionals, Endorsed by Various High Court and Judicial Officers
Please visit our Training & Support
Center or Contact Us for assistance
Scan Me!
India’s Legal research and Law Firm App, Download now!
For Daily Legal Updates, Join us on :
Back to top
