ORDER :

1. Leave granted.

2. The High Court of Telangana, by its interim orders dated 5 October 2021, 25 October 2021 and 26 October 2021, has held that the action of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University¹[“JNTU”] in seeking the approval of the State Government before granting affiliation to new courses in existing institutions, which have already been approved by All India Council for Technical Education²[“AICTE”], is contrary to the decision of this Court in Jaya Gokul Education Trust v Commissioner & Secretary to Govt Higher Education Department, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala State and Another, (2000) 5 SCC 231. Consequently, the High Court has, directed JNTU to notify the institutions in the course of the second phase of counselling thereby allowing students to be admitted to the courses. Several institutions sought the permission of AICTE, inter alia, for enhancing the intake capacity in “emerging areas” of engineering or, as the case may be, for new courses. The approval of AICTE was granted.

3. JNTU addressed a communication on 8 September 2021 to the Commissioner for Technical Education seeking the approval of the State Government for granting affiliation to new courses/incre