JUDGMENT

1. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri Suman Kumar, as also the learned counsel appearing for the Bihar School Examination Board, Sri Purnendu Singh and the learned counsel appearing for the National Council for Teacher Education, Sri Sunil Kumar Singh.

2. The present writ petition has been filed for directing the respondent authorities to grant affiliation to the petitioner College for the session 2016-2018 from the Bihar School Examination Board, Patna (hereinafter referred to as the 'BSEB'), for imparting D.El.Ed. courses.

3. The briefs facts of the case are that the petitioner College appears to have been established for imparting D.El.Ed. courses and had applied to the Respondent-National Council for Teacher Education (hereinafter referred to as the 'NCTE') for grant of recognition for conducting the D.El.Ed. Course, whereafter, the NCTE, finding that the petitioner college is fulfilling all the requisite norms, had, by an order dated 02.05.2016, granted recognition / permission to the petitioner College for conducting D.El.Ed. programme for two years duration with an intake of 100 students from the academic session 2016-2017 under Clause 7(16) of the NCTE (Recognition Norms and Procedure) Regulations, 2014, subject to fulfillment of the conditions mentioned in the said order dated 02.05.2016.

4. It appears that after receipt of the recognition from the NCTE from the academic session 2016-2018, the petitioner College is stated to have submitted an application to the Respondent-BSEB for grant of affiliation, however, the affiliation has been granted by the Respondent-BSEB to conduct the D.El.Ed. courses from the academic session 2017-19 instead of the academic session 2016-2018 vide letter dated 26.09.2017.

5. The learned counsel for the petitioner, in this regard, has relied upon a judgment rendered by the learned Division Bench of this Court dated 28.3.2019 passed in CWJC No. 19046 of 2018 (Rajendra Kishore B.Ed. College, Sughari & Ors. vs. The Bihar School Examination Board & Ors.) & other analogous cases, reported in 2020 (4) PLJR 829, paragraph no. 41 whereof is reproduced herein below:-

"41. We thus choose to read down Clause (xiii) which is sought to be added to Regulation 8 of 2016 Regulations' by removing the bar of session i.e. 2014-16, to cover all training sessions as until the date on which the notification was published i.e. 07.07.2018 and since on principle the Board has resolved to grant affiliation to the Training Colleges from the session the said Colleges have obtained recognition from the Eastern Regional Committee, the National Council of Teachers Education, Bhuvaneshwar/ National Council of Teachers Education, New Delhi, applying the same principles the Board would grant affiliation to these petitioners institutions as well from the sessions they have obtained recognition from the NCTE. That the respondent Board have at paragraph 20 of the counter affidavit showed intentions to hold examination for the academic Session 2014-16, 2015-17 and 2016-18 for the Colleges, whose past examination have been validated, the Board shall allow the students of the petitioners institutions also to participate in the Session 2016-18 unless otherwise found ineligible to participate. Let the exercise of grant of affiliation be completed by the Board within four weeks of receipt/ production of a copy of the judgment."

6. Thus, the learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the petitioner College is entitled to affiliation by the Respondent-BSEB from the academic session 2016-2018 in view of the bar of Session 2014-16, in regulation 8 of the Bihar School Examination Board (Issuance of Teachers Education No Objection Certificate, Affiliation Norms and Procedure) Regulations, 2016 (hereinafter referred to as the "BSEB Regulations, 2016"), having been removed so as to cover the session up to the academic session 2016-2018, by the aforesaid judgment dated 28.03.2019 passed in the case of Rajendra Ki