T. CH. SURYA RAO, J.

( 1 ) THE petitioner seeks a Writ of mandamus declaring the Andhra Pradesh state Council of Higher Education Act, 1988 and University Grants Commission instructions, under which the said Act purported to have been passed, as illegal, invalid, void, and ultra vires of the constitution of India.

( 2 ) A resume of the events that led to the passing of the impugned Act is expedient to be set forth for an effective adjudication of the matter hereunder thus:the Central Government evolved a national Education Policy, 1986. The policy, inter alia, recommended that a State Level planning for Co-ordination of the Higher education should be done through Councils of Higher Education. The University Grants commission ( the UGC for brevity) and these Councils would develop co-ordinative methods to keep a watch on the standards of higher education. Since there was no effective machinery for planning and coordination of Higher Education at the State level and the co-ordination of State level programme with those of the UGC, in order to fill up that gap, it was proposed to set up state Councils of Higher Education as statutory bodies.

( 3 ) PURSUANT to the said policy, the UGC constituted a committee so as to go into the matter and to make its recommendations regarding setting up of the State Councils of higher Education as per the National Policy on Education, 1986, and the programme of action in that regard. The Committee realised that there has been a pressing need for constituting effective machinery for promotion and co-ordination of Higher education at the State level and coordination of State level programmes with those of the UGC. Thereafter, the UGC formulated certain guidelines for setting up the State Councils of Higher Education as recommended by the Committee. Accordingly, the Andhra Pradesh State passed an Act known as the Andhra pradesh Commissionerate of Higher education Act, 1986 , as per the recommendation of the Vice-Chancellors committee regarding the Higher Education in the State of Andhra Pradesh. The said act was challenged by the petitioner and four others in W. P. No. 15733 of 1986 and also the Osmania University Teachers association in W. P. No. 15582 of 1986. A full bench of this Court dismissed both the writ petitions by its Judgment dated 24-03-1987. The matter was carried to the Apex Court, and Apex Court by. its Judgment dated 13-08-1987 allowed the appeals and directed the State Government not to enforce the provisions of the impugned Act.

( 4 ) THEREAFTER, the Department of education, Government of India requested the Commission to review the guidelines. Accordingly, the guidelines were reviewed with the help of law panel of the commission, and issued revised guidelines as approved by the Commission in January,1988. Pursuant to those guidelines, the State Government decided to fill the gap by constituting State Council of Higher education as recommended in the National educational Policy of the Government of india and as recommended by the committee constituted by the UGC. As a consequence, the Government passed the andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher education Act, 1988 (Act 16 of 1988 ). The petitioner now challenges the said Act on the premises that the Act is outside the legislative competence of the State legislature, and the Act 16 of 1988 is nothing but the repetition of Act 26 of 1986 and therefore it is a colourable legislation.

( 5 ) THE State Government resisted the writ petition on the premise that Act 16 of 1988 has been enacted without encroaching upon the powers of the Central government and within the legislative competence of the State.

( 6 ) BEFORE adverting to the respective contentions raised on either side, it is expedient to refer the relevant provisions of the Constitution of India and the law laid down by the Apex Court for brevity and better understanding of the matter.

( 7 ) ACCORDING to Article 246 of the constitution of India, Parliament has exclusive power

Click Here to Read the rest of this document