Adherence to the schedule for admission in educational institutions is crucial for maintaining fairness, transparency, and education standards, and deviation from the schedule cannot be justified by financial loss.

JUDGMENT :

The present writ petition has been preferred for issuance of direction upon the respondent-authorities to take admission of the students, who applied online on the Jharkhand Combined Entrance Competitive Examination Board (hereinafter referred to as “JCECEB”) Portal in the B.Ed courses for the batch/session 2021-2023 and also those students who have passed their qualifying exams i.e., Bachelor’s Degree in the applicable subjects after 27.09.2021 till 17.05.2022 in terms with its sanctioned intake as mandated by National Council for Teachers Education (NCTE), as also to enable the students who otherwise being eligible for getting admitted in the B.Ed courses could not upload their graduation result within the time stipulated in pursuance of advertisement notice dated 03.09.2020 issued by the respondent no. 5 – JCECEB. The petitioner-college has further prayed for allowing it to fill up the seats in B.Ed course which remained vacant after conclusion of the counseling conducted in pursuance of Combined Entrance Examination conducted by JCECEB.

2. Mr. Sachin Kumar, learned AAG-II appearing on behalf of the respondent nos. 1 to 3, while referring to order/judgment dated 04.08.2022 passed by this Court in W.P.(C) No. 2392 of 2022 (Rajeev Gandhi Memorial Teachers’ Training College, Digwadih, Dhanbad & Ors. Vs. The State of Jharkhand & Ors.), submits that the said writ petition involving similar issue has already been dismissed.

3. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the order/judgment dated 04.08.2022 passed by this Court in the aforesaid writ petition, the relevant paragraphs of which read as under:

8. Heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the materials available on record. The petitioners seek direction of this Court to allow them to take admission of all those students who got registered with JCECEB in the B.Ed course for Session 2021-23 and have passed their qualifying examination after 27.09.2021 till 17.05.2022.

9. The thrust of the argument of learned counsel for the petitioners is that the sessions of many colleges were late owing to Covid-19 pandemic due to which the appearing batch students who got registered in B.Ed courses for Session 2021-23 could not pass their qualifying examination (Bachelor degree course) within time. Claim of the petitioners is that seats for Session 2021-23 are lying vacant and if the appearing batch students are allowed to be admitted in B.Ed course, they would arrange extra classes for them.

10. Per contra, according to learned AAG-II and learned counsel for the respondent no. 5, it was explicitly stipulated in the advertisement itself that the appearing batch students would upload their final marks/result of qualifying examination (Bachelor degree course) till 27.09.2021, failing which their names would not be included in the final merit list. In view of the clear stipulation in the advertisement, the petitioners’ prayer made in the writ petition is not worth consideration.

11. Before coming to the merit of rival contentions of the parties, it would be relevant to refer the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court rendered in the case of “College of Professional Education” (supra), wherein the schedule for taking admission in the B.Ed course for the academic Session 2012-2013 and subsequent years has been fixed, which is reproduced as under:

12. The schedule provided in “College of Professional Education”