P.B. Suresh Kumar, J.

1. These writ petitions relate to admission of students to the Polytechnic colleges of the petitioners for the academic year 2017-'18.

2. The petitioners have established Polytechnic colleges in the State and obtained approval of the All India Council for Technical Education (the AICTE) constituted under the All India Council for Technical Education Act ('the Act') for starting the same. The letters of approval issued to the petitioners by the AICTE provide, among others, that the petitioners shall obtain necessary approval from the concerned Board of Technical Education. Such a condition is imposed by the AICTE while granting approval to start Polytechnic colleges as the examinations of the students admitted in Polytechnic colleges are conducted by the concerned Boards of Technical Education in the respective States. As far as the State of Kerala is concerned, there is no Board of Technical Education and the State Government is conducting the examinations through its Director of Technical Education. The admission of students to Polytechnic colleges in the State is also regulated by the State Government based on merit and in accordance with the principl