Judgment :-

R.V. Raveendran J.

The seventh respondent - YMCA Institute of Engineering, Faridabad (for short the `Institute), affiliated to the State Board of Technical Education, Haryana, was conducting Post Diploma Courses of four years duration in various engineering disciplines for several years, with entry level qualification of 10+1. The respondents are post diploma holders from the said Institute who had the entry qualification of 10+1 when they joined the said course.

2. The Institute sought the permission of All India Council for Technical Education -the Appellant herein (`AICTE for short) to convert the aforesaid four year Post Diploma Programme into an `Advance Diploma Programme also of four years duration. AICTE granted approval for such conversion, by its letter dated 26.10.1995, subject to the following conditions:

(i) The entry level to the course should be raised from 11th (10+1) to 12th (10+2) standard.

(ii) The duration of the course shall be 4 years after 10+2.

(iii) The course content should be modified as suggested by AICTE in Annexure-I to the said letter of approval.

As a consequence, the four year Post Diploma Course of the Institute was converted to a four year Advance Diploma Course from 1995.

3. On the request of the Institute, the Director, Technical Education, Haryana and AICTE granted approval in the year 1997, for upgradation of the four year Advance Diploma Course to a five year Engineering Degree Programme (B.Tech degree). As a consequence, the Institute started B. Tech programme from the academic year 1997-98 with the permission of the affiliating university and AICTE. From that year, the Institute discontinued admissions to the four year Advance Diploma Course.

4. In order to enable its students who had successfully completed the Four Year Post/Advance Diploma Course, to acquire degrees in engineering, the Institute wanted to commence a one year bridge course. On its application, the Government of Haryana approved a one year bridge course with two extended semesters of 22 weeks each, for diploma holders from the Institute to cover the remaining portion of the degree course, and acquire B.Tech degree. The Director of Technical Education, State of Haryana, addressed a letter dated 19.5.1999 to AICTE, recommending the grant of approval for starting the said bridge course by the Institute, for the benefit of its students who had passed the post/advance diploma courses during the sessions 1992-96, 1993-97 and 1994-98. It was stated that such admission facility to be made available to the diploma holders will be in force only for the next two years.

5. The appellant rejected the request by letter dated 9.7.1999 by giving the following reasons for the refusal of permission:

(i) There was no provision in the AICTE Rules to approve a bridge course for diploma holders.

(ii) Approving any bridge course would involve a major policy shift on the part of AICTE. It will also affect the technical education all over the country.

(iii) If diplomas were to be permitted to be converted into degrees through bridge courses, the very purpose of diploma level education would be defeated.

(iv) There was already an existing provision enabling diploma holders to get admitted to the second year of the engineering programme.

6. The Director of Technical Education, State of Haryana, reiterated the recommendation for approval, giving reasons in support of its recommendation. The Institute and the students of the Advance Diploma Course also submitted representations to AICTE and the Ministry for Human Resources Development requesting reconsideration its decision. AICTE therefore reconsidered and rejected the request at its meeting held on 15.9.1999, and communicated the rejection by letter dated 11.11.1999.

7. Feeling aggrieved, 102 students of the Institute who had joined the Advance Diploma Course in Engineering, approached the Delhi High Court in December, 1999 by filing CWP No.7364/1999 seeking the following reli