M.R. Shah, J.

Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied by the impugned judgment and order passed by the learned Single Judge dated 08.03.2018 in Special Civil Application No.89/2017 with Civil Application No.2/2017, by which the learned Single Judge has dismissed the said petition and has refused to grant the reliefs as prayed in the said petition, the original petitioner No.1 - Party-in-Person has preferred the present Letters Patent Appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent.

2. The facts leading to the present Letters Patent Appeal in nutshell are as under:

2.1 That respondent No.2 - Gujarat Forensic Sciences University (hereinafter referred to as "GFSU"/"respondent-University" for short) has been established and incorporated under the Gujarat Forensic Sciences University Act, 2008, by the legislature of the State of Gujarat with an objective of fulfilling the acute shortage against increasing demand for forensic experts in the country. That respondent No.2 - University has established an institute in the name and style of Institute of Forensic Science (respondent No.3 herein) for imparting education and training in various disciplines of forensic sciences at the level of post-graduation. That from the academic year 2014-15, respondent No.2 - University introduced and commenced a new course, being Master of Technology in Cyber Security and Incident Response, i.e. M.Tech. (Cyber Security and Incident Response). At this stage, it is required to be noted that the respondent - University has been recognized by the University Grants Commission (hereinafter referred to as "the UGC") and is a State University under Section 22 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, to award degrees, in May 2011. Therefore, respondent No.2-University and respondent No.3-Institute run by respondent No.2-University are bound to comply with the Regulations framed by the UGC, amended from time to time, more particularly, the University Grants Commission (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and other Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2010. Therefore, respondents No.2 and 3 are required to have the qualified, eligible and required number of faculties to impart education. As observed hereinabove, in 2014-15, the respondent-University and the institution started the course of M.Tech (Cyber Security and Incident Response). That the petitioners secured admissions in the M.Tech (Cyber Security and Incident Response) course in the respondents - University/Institution and in the academic year 2016-17. That M.Tech (Cyber Security and Incident Response) programme is a two-year course comprising of total four semesters. It is the case on behalf of the appellant that based on the promises held out in the prospectus in which it was specifically stated that the number of faculties were available, the petitioners got the admission in the aforesaid course. According to the petitioners, when they got the admission and started pursuing studies, it was found that the respondents - University/Institution were not having sufficient required number of faculties and even eligible faculties and on the contrary, the aforesaid course was being conducted and education was imparted by outsourced faculties for which a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between GSFU and eSF Labs Limited on 02.06.2014 to provide for expert facilities for conducting the courses which included the courses for which the petitioners took admission. Even the fee structure was fixed by the University and the Institution and not by the Committee constituted under the Gujarat Professional Technical Educational Colleges or Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Fixation of Fees) Act, 2007, amended from time to time.

2.2 According to the petitioners, therefore, first they approached the Ombudsman/Grievance Redressal Committee of the University making a specific grievance that there are