JUDGMENT

V. Ramasubramanian, J.

Leave granted.

2. Aggrieved by the order passed by the Division Bench of the Kerala High Court directing the Vice Chancellor of the University to reconsider the application for affiliation of a new B.Tech course, submitted by the first respondent, which is a self-financing Engineering College, solely on the basis of the extension of approval granted by the All India Council for Technical Education (hereinafter referred to as "AICTE"), the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, which is a State University and its Vice Chancellor have come up with this appeal.

3. We have heard Mr. Chander Uday Singh, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the appellant-University, Mr. S. Krishnamoorthy, learned Counsel appearing for the first respondent-College, Ms. Priyanka Prakash, learned Counsel appearing for the second respondent-State and Mr. Anil Soni, learned Counsel appearing for the third respondent-AICTE. We have also heard Mr. C. Arayama Sundaram, Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Mr. P.S. Narasimha, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the applicants seeking intervention/impleadment and vacation of stay.

4. It appears that despite the mushroom growth of the self-