The NCTE should consider the current position of the state, including any review of a ban on opening new institutions and the grant of NOCs, while deciding applications for recognition of teacher education programs.

DR. PUSHPENDRA SINGH BHATI, J.

1. Heard learned counsel for the parties. Perused the material available on record.

2.1. The petitioner institution is an educational institution which is run by a registered society. National Council for Teacher Education, New Delhi is created under the provisions of the National Council for Teacher Education Act, 1993 (for short, ‘the Act of 1993’). The regulations, norms and procedure are fixed under the provisions of the National Council for Teacher Education (Recognition, Norms and Procedure) Regulations, 2014 (for short, the Regulations of 2014’), which have been amended from time to time. These Regulations are applicable to the matters relating to the Teacher Training Programmes.

2.2. The respondent no. 2 in the year 2012 invited applications from the institutions situated the States of North India (including State of Rajasthan) desiring to run the teacher education courses. As the petitioner was fulfilling the mandatory requirements as per the Act of 1993 and was fully eligible to run the Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed./B.S.T.C.) course applied through online mode for the academic session 2013-14 under the provisions of Section 14(1) of the Act of 1993.

2.3. The respondent no. 2 in its 214 meeting considered the matter of the petitioner along with other matters and decided that the recommendations of State of Rajasthan to now allow setting up of D.El.Ed. Institutions in the State of Rajasthan be accepted and the application so received be returned to the respective institutions. As such, the respondent vide letter dated 18.6.2013 returned the application of the petitioner purely on the basis of the aforesaid recommendations.

2.4. The decision taken by the State of Rajasthan in the year 2009 that no BSTC/D.El.Ed./B.Ed. course would be permitted was reviewed by the State of Rajasthan on 12.8.2016 and certain districts were granted NOC to run such course.

2.5. The petitioner thereafter filed a writ petition no. 23106/2018 at Jaipur Bench of this Court in which the matter was relegated to the appellate authority. The appellate authority by its order dated 31.12.2018 proceeded to confirm the refusal order dated 18.6.2013 without considering the fulfillment of the requisite qualification of the petitioner.

3.1. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the impugned order passed by the appellate authority is solely on the basis of judgment rendered by the Delhi High Court in the case of Saraswati Deep College of Education vs. National Council for Teacher Education & Anr. (LPA 619/2018) decided on 31.10.2018 whereby the Delhi High Court confirmed the decision of NCTE of returning the application in furtherance of State Ban. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that since the appellate authority was seized of the fact that the State of Rajasthan is no more having ban on opening new institutions in view of the order dated 12.8.2016, the petitioner should have been considered independent of the judgment of Delhi High Court in Saraswati Deep’s case (supra) which was relating to State of Haryana, the relevant portion whereof reads as follows:-

“7. From the above, it is clear that many seats in Teacher Education Institutes remained unfilled. In such a scenario, no further recognition can be granted to the Institutes. There is no justification to allow the mushrooming of Institutes conducting Teacher Education courses. The NCTE is within its competence to consider the decision of the State of Haryana not to allow setting up of new B.Ed Institutions in the State. In fact, the Regional Committee of the NCTE declined to grant recognition vide order dated 3rd July, 2013. The last para of which reads as under:

“In view of the above judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and the decision taken by the NCTE Committee, the NRC decided that the recommendations of the State of Govt. of Haryana, i.e., not to allow setting up of new B.Ed. institutions in the State be accepted and the applications