The central legal point established in the judgment is the need to adhere to AICTE regulations for the approval of educational programs, and the discretionary jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution to consider the larger impact on students and citizens.

JUDGMENT :

Petitioners 1 to 5, who are undergoing Part time Diploma Course in Mechanical Engineering in various Government Polytechnic Colleges under the 1st respondent-State of Kerala, seek to quash Ext.P12 and to command the respondents to permit the petitioners to undergo their Part time Diploma Course in accordance with the conditions in Ext.P1 Prospectus and Ext.P4 Curriculum of 2015 Scheme and to direct the respondents to award the Diploma in Mechanical Engineering accordingly.

2. Petitioners 1 and 5 are working as Senior Instructors and the 4th petitioner is working as Workshop Attender in the Government ITI, Kalamassery. The 2nd and 3rd petitioners are working as Tradesmen in the Government Polytechnic College, Kothamangalam and Government Polytechnic College, Purappuzha respectively. For Career Advancement, the petitioners decided to pursue a Part time Diploma Course in Mechanical Engineering in the 4th respondent-State Institute of Technical Teachers' Training and Research at Kalamassery.

3. Clause 2 of Ext.P1 Prospectus issued by the Directorate of Technical Education provided that the program of Part time Diploma Courses shall be of six semesters, for a total period of three years. The petitioners, after obtaining NOC from their reporting officers, enrolled for the course Diploma in Mechanical Engineering. The petitioners are undergoing the program under the revised 2015 curriculum. The subjects Industrial Management and Safety, Industrial Training/Industrial Visit/Collaborative work and Project and Seminar were to be completed in the 5th semester itself. The petitioners appeared in the examinations for semesters 1 to 4 in accordance with the 2015 Scheme.

4. The 3rd respondent made a revision in the curriculum in the year 2021, for various Diploma Courses. The 1st respondent approved the curriculum and made it applicable for students admitted from the academic year 2021-'22 under the revised curriculum. As per this, students in the Part time Course were to be awarded a Diploma with the First Class with Distinction, only if they acquire the requisite credits within seven consecutive semesters.

5. As a bolt from the blue, the 1st respondent issued Ext.P12 Government Order whereby the course curriculum and duration in respect of the students admitted to Part time Diploma Course 2019-'20, were also changed and extended to a period of seven semesters. The AICTE APH 2019-'20 Regulations stipulated that the Part time Diploma Courses shall be at least one or two semesters more than the regular course. It is to adhere to the said stipulation that the 4th respondent recommended to revise the 2015 curriculum retrospectively with effect from 2019 and name it as PT Revision 2019.

6. The petitioners argued that a Prospectus is binding on the candidates as well as the State. Ext.P1 Prospectus and Ext.P4 Curriculum clearly state that the Diploma program from the Academic Year commencing from 2019 shall be for a period of three years spread over six semesters. The respondents are bound to abide by Ext.P1 Prospectus and confine the course duration to 3 years/6 semesters. The action of the respondents in retrospectively altering the declarations in the Prospectus amounts to infringement of the legitimate expectations of the petitioners that the Course shall be completed in six semesters.

7. The petitioners submitted that the extension of duration of the course invites serious civil consequences for the petitioners in so far as they have been granted NOC by their employers only for a Three Year Course. The petitioners have underwent the Course for career advancement. Delay in completion of the Course and award of the Diploma, will affect their chances for promotion and consequently their pay and allowances. Therefore, the respondents are compellable to permit the petitioners to undergo their Part time Diploma Course as per Ext.P1 Prospectus and Ext.P4 Curriculum of 2015 Scheme and to award Diploma to the petitioners after successful completi