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2022 Supreme(Raj) 857
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT JODHPUR
SANDEEP MEHTA, KULDEEP MATHUR, JJ.
Sunrise Group of Institution, Udaipur – Appellant
Versus
All India Council for Technical Education, New Delhi – Respondent
D.B. Special Appeal Writ No. 590 of 2022
Decided On : 12-10-2022
Advocate Appeared:
For the Appellants : Vikas Balia, Ankur Mathur.
Unauthorized admissions in violation of mandatory admission guidelines and judgment of the Supreme Court, lack of evidence of students' attendance and examination participation.
Headnote:
admission - undergraduate programme of bachelors degree in discipline of engineering - Parshavanath Charitable Trust and Others vs. All India Council for Technical Education and Others (Civil Appeal No. 9048/2012) - The court discussed the unauthorized admission of students by the petitioner Institution in violation of the guidelines for REAP-2016 and the judgment of the Supreme Court in Parshavanath Charitable Trust and Others vs. All India Council for Technical Education and Others (Civil Appeal No. 9048/2012). The court emphasized that the admissions were granted by the Institution at its own risk and peril contrary to the mandatory admission guidelines and cannot be given legal sanction by the Court. The court also highlighted that the students who were illegally admitted by the Institution and who have allegedly completed their respective courses would be at liberty to take appropriate legal action (civil as well as criminal) against the petitioner Institution.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner Institution granted admission to 44 students in the undergraduate programme of bachelors degree in discipline of engineering (BE/B.Tech) under the management quota without ensuring that they had cleared the Rajasthan Engineering Admission Process (‘REAP’) Examination. The students were not enrolled by the Rajasthan Technical University, Kota, and the petitioner filed a writ petition seeking direction to grant enrolment numbers to the students and permit them to undertake the examination.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the petitioner Institution had no lawful authority to give suo-moto admissions and had played blatant fraud. It emphasized that the admissions were granted in violation of the mandatory admission guidelines and the judgment of the Supreme Court. The court also noted that no material was presented to show that the students actually studied in the Institution or appeared in examinations.
Issues: Unauthorized admission of students, violation of admission guidelines, lack of evidence of students' attendance and examination participation.
Ratio Decidendi: The petitioner Institution had no lawful authority to grant admissions and had played fraud. The admissions were in violation of the mandatory admission guidelines and the judgment of the Supreme Court. Lack of evidence of students' attendance and examination participation further supported the court's decision.
Final Decision: The appeal lacked merit and was dismissed with a cost of Rs. 50,000/- to be deposited in the Registry within the next thirty days.
ORDER :
1. The instant intra-court appeal is directed against the judgment/final order dated 15.02.2022 passed by learned Single Bench of this Court rejecting the writ petition preferred by the petitioner with the following prayers:
“It is therefore, respectfully prayed that this petition for writ in the nature of mandamus may kindly be allowed and by any other appropriate writ, order of direction:
(1) The respondents may kindly be directed to grant enrolment number to 44 students, as specified in the list submitted by the petitioner vide Annex.3 and permit them to undertake the examination of B.Tech Course (1st year) for the academic session 2016.
(2) Any other appropriate order or direction, which this Hon’ble Court deems fit and proper, may kindly be passed in favour of the petitioner.”
2. We have heard and considered the submissions advanced by the learned senior counsel Shri Vikas Balia assisted by Shri Ankur Mathur, Advocate and have gone through the impugned order and the material placed on record.
3. The controversy involved in this writ petition pertains to suo-moto admission offered by the petitioner Institution to 44 students in the undergraduate programme of bachelors degree in discipline of engineering (BE/B.Tech) under the management quota. The petitioner Institution relies upon a communication dated 28.08.2015 filed as Annexure-2 with the writ petition for giving admission to the students in the Engineering Degree Courses in 2016-17 Session. It may be stated here that in the relevant year, admission to the technical education courses was mandatorily required to be done from amongst the students who had cleared the Rajasthan Engineering Admission Process (‘REAP’) Examination. As the petitioner granted admission to the students on its own under the management quota without any approval and without ensuring that they had not cleared the REAP Examination, the students were not enrolled by the Rajasthan Technical University, Kota. Thereupon, the petitioner filed the abovementioned writ petition.
4. On 19.11.2016, while entertaining the S.B. writ petition, following interim order was passed:
“By way of this writ petition, the petitioner institution has approached this Court raising a grievance that 44 students who were admitted by the petitioner on its own on the basis of percentile obtained by the students, acting in furtherance of the communication dated 28.8.2015 issued by the Technical Education department, have not been enrolled by the respondent Rajasthan Technical University, Kota and thus, these students are being deprived of filling the examination forms, for the acceptance whereof, last date has been declared as 21.11.2016.
Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the examination forms are to be forwarded by the petitioner online and as, the enrollment numbers have not been allotted to these 44 students, their forms are not being accepted.
The matter requires consideration.
Issue notice to the respondents returnable on 14.12.2016.
In view of the facts and circumstances narrated above, the petitioner institution is provisionally and without creating any equities either in its favour or in favour of the concerned students, permitted to forward offline examination forms of these 44 students to the Rajasthan Technical University, Kota who shall accept such forms conditionally.”
5. It is claimed that under this ex-parte interim stay order, 44 students have undergone the entire degree course in the petitioner Institution.
6. Reply to the writ petition was filed by the respondent No. 2 Rajasthan Technical University, Kota wherein, a pertinent objection was raised that the entire process of allotment to the technical courses was being undertaken as per the direction issued by the Hon’ble Apex Court vide judgment dated 13.12.2012 passed in the case of Parshavanath Charitable Trust and Others vs. All India Council for Technical Education and Others (Civil Appeal No. 9048/2012). The Rajasthan Technical University, Kota publis
