The destruction of a building does not extinguish a lease as long as the land remains, affirming the continuity of landlord-tenant relationships under the Act.

JUDGMENT :

D. K. SINGH, J.

Heard Mr. George Poonthottam, the learned Senior Counsel, assisted by Ms. Shilpa Sreekumar for the petitioner College and Mr. Abraham P. Meachinkara, the learned Standing Counsel for the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).

Facts

2. The petitioner College is an autonomous college, recognised by the State Government and affiliated to the University of Calicut. The petitioner College has been accorded ‘Minority’ status, recognised by the National Minority Commission. The petitioner College imparts twenty undergraduate courses and seven postgraduate courses under the self- financing scheme. The petitioner College has also been accorded an ‘A’ grade NAAC accreditation. Under the National Education Policy 2020, significant changes have been brought in the teacher education programme. The National Council for Teacher Education/ the first respondent had published the Regulations framed under Section 32 of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) Act, 1993, providing the norms and standards for the establishment of teachers’ education institutions by amending the National Council for Teacher Education (Recognition, Norms and Procedure) Regulations 2014.

2.1 The amended Regulations had been published on 22.10.2021. A public notice was issued on 05.02.2024 for the transition from the four- year integrated programme, seeking to be implemented by inviting applications for transition from the Colleges, which had been granted recognition for the four-year integrated programme. The last academic session for admission to the four-year integrated programme was 2024-25. The time fixed for submission of applications for the integrated B.Ed. programme was 05.03.2024, which was extended up to 31.05.2024. On 18.05.2024, the petitioner College applied for the fourth phase of the integrated teacher education programme for the Academic Year 2025- 26. The said policy was the subject matter of challenge before various High Courts. However, the said challenge was repelled, and the writ petitions were dismissed.

3. A notice of inspection was issued through e-mail by the first respondent/NCTE. On inspection, being satisfied about the institution and infrastructure, a letter of intent dated 03.04.2025 was issued to the petitioner College for the Academic Year 2025-26 for grant of recognition for offering Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) under Regulation 7(13) of the National Council for Teacher Education (Recognition, Norms and Procedure) Regulations 2014. The provisional letter of intent dated 03.04.2025 issued to the petitioner also listed out certain documents to be submitted through online mode within 60 days from the date of issue of the letter of intent for granting the Formal Recognition. Paragraph 3 of the letter of intent dated 03.04.2025 reads thus:

“3. Before the grant of Formal Recognition, you are required to submit the following documents through online made within the stipulated period of 60 days from the date of issue of this Letter of Intent:

i. The institution shall submit the list of faculties having the required qualification as per NCTE Regulations 2014 for the proposed course duly approved by the concerned affiliating body.

ii. The institution shall launch its own website with a hyperlink to the NCFE website, uploading the required information/documents as per clause 7(14) of the NCTE Regulations 2014 as amended from time to time and furnish the evidence in this regard.

iii. The institution shall maintain the required endowment and reserve fund converted in the joint operation in the name of the institution and the regional Director of the concerned Regional Committee as per clause 7(16) of NCTE Regulations 2014.”

It was also provided that admissions should not be made until the Recognition Order under Regulations 7(16) of the National Council for Teacher Education (Recognition, Norms and Procedure) Regulations 2014 is issued by the Southern Regional Committee.

3.1 The petitioner supplied