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2012 Supreme(Mad) 2548
High Court of Judicature at Madras
V. RAMASUBRAMANIAN
M. Arunkumar & Others
Versus
The All India Council for Technical Education Represented by its Member Secretary, New Delhi & Others
W.P.Nos.21318, 28111, 28112, 28250, 28557, 28558, 28559, 28560 & 28561 of 2011 & 358, 359, 360, 403, 404, 405, 687, 688, 784, 888, 951, 1032, 1679 & 1685 of 2012 & M.P.Nos.2,2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 3 & 3 of 2011 & 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4 & 4 of 2012
Decided on: 20-06-2012
For the Appearing Parties: N.R. Chandran, Senior Counsel for S. Sivapandi,.V. Lakshminarayanan, V. Vijayarajan & B. Rabu Manohar.
For AICTE, AR. L. Sundaresan, Senior Counsel, K. Ravindranath M.C. Swamy, Special Government Pleader, Manisundar Gopal For Association of Management of Affiliated Colleges, Kandavadivel Duraisamy
For Consortium of Self-Financing, Professional, Arts and Science Colleges, R. Natarajan, R. Sasikumar, Advocates.
The Court emphasized that illegal admissions cannot give rise to legitimate expectation and rejected the plea of equitable estoppel, highlighting that sympathy for students in such cases would benefit the wrongdoers, the educational institutions.
Headnote:
AICTE Regulations - Admission Eligibility Criteria - Para 1.2.1 and 1.2.4 of Appendix-I - Regulations 2010 - MBA/MCA Courses - 10.12.2010 - 10.6.2011 - 14.6.2011 - Common Entrance Test - Illegal Admissions
Fact of the Case:
The petitioners challenged the eligibility criteria for admission to MBA/MCA Courses as stipulated in the AICTE Regulations 2010. The petitioners were admitted to the courses despite not meeting the minimum percentage requirements, leading to a dispute with the University and subsequent legal action.
Finding of the Court:
The Court found that the petitioners' admissions were in violation of the prescribed eligibility criteria and were therefore illegal. The Court dismissed the writ petitions, allowing the students to seek refund of fees and compensation against the Colleges for the illegal admissions.
Issues: The issues included the retrospective implementation of amended Regulations, communication of eligibility criteria to Colleges and students, equitable estoppel, legitimate expectation, and the legality of the admissions.
Ratio Decidendi: The Court held that the amended Regulations were notified in December 2010 and were deemed to be known by all concerned parties. The Colleges were found to have had sufficient time to comply with the amended eligibility criteria. The Court rejected the plea of equitable estoppel and legitimate expectation, emphasizing that illegal admissions cannot give rise to legitimate expectation. The Court also highlighted that sympathy for students in such cases would benefit the wrongdoers, the educational institutions.
Final Decision: The writ petitions were dismissed, allowing the students to seek refund of fees and compensation against the Colleges for the illegal admissions.
1. The petitioners in all these writ petitions challenge the prescription contained in clause 1.2.1 and 1.2.4 of the Approval Process Handbook for the year 2011-12 issued under Appendix-I to The All India Council for Technical Education (Grant of Approvals for Technical Institutions) Regulations 2010, by which the eligibility for admission to a 2 year M.B.A. Degree or a 3 year M.C.A. Degree is stipulated as a pass in a recognised Bachelors Degree of minimum 3 years duration with at least 50% at the qualifying examination for general category candidates and 45% in the case of candidates belonging to reserved categories.
2. I have heard Mr.N.R.Chandran, learned Senior Counsel, Mr.V.Lakshminarayanan, Mr.V.Vijayarajan and Mr.B.Rabu Manohar, learned counsel appearing for the petitioners, Mr.AR.L.Sundaresan, learned Senior Counsel and Mr.K.Ravindranath, learned counsel appearing for AICTE, Mr.M.C.Swamy, learned Special Government Pleader appearing for the State Government, Mr.Manisundar Gopal, learned counsel appearing for the Anna University, Mr.Kandavadivel Duraisamy, learned counsel appearing for the Association of Managements of affiliated Colleges, Mr.R.Natarajan, learned counsel appearing for the Consortium of Self-Financing Professional, Arts and Science Colleges in Tamil Nadu and Mr.R.Sasikumar, learned counsel appearing for Kongunadu College of Management.
3. The petitioners in all these writ petitions appeared for the Common Entrance Test conducted by the Association of Managements of Private Colleges/Consortium of Self-Financing Colleges and secured admission either to a 2 year Post Graduate Degree Course in Business Administration (MBA) or to a 3 year Post Graduate Degree Course in Computer Applications (MCA), for the academic year 2011-2012, in various Self-Financing Colleges. There is no dispute about the fact that all the writ petitioners hold Bachelors Degrees in various disciplines. But unfortunately those of the writ petitioners who belong to the reserved categories, had not secured 45% in the qualifying degrees and those of the writ petitioners who belong to the general categories have not secured 50% in the qualifying Degree Courses.
4. Prior to December 2010, the qualification prescribed for admission to MBA/MCA Courses was only a pass in a recognised degree and there was no stipulation about the percentage of marks. But on 10.12.2010, the All India Council for Technical Education published a notification, notifying a set of regulations known as 'The All India Council for Technical Education (Grant of Approvals for Technical Institutions) Regulations 2010'. These Regulations superseded the existing Regulations that were in force.
5. Appendix-I to the Approval Process Handbook issued in terms of the said Regulations contains in para 1.1 thereof, the prescriptions regarding Under Graduate Programmes, the duration of those programmes and the eligibility for admission to those programmes. Para 1.2 of Appendix-I contains the prescriptions regarding Post Graduate Degrees and Diplomas, their duration and the eligibility criteria for admission to those Courses. Serial No.1 of para-1.2 of Appendix-I stipulates that a person should have obtained a recognised Bachelors Degree of a minimum of 3 years duration with 50% at the qualifying examination (45% in the case of candidates belonging to reserved categories), for admission to a 2 year Management Courses, such as PGDM, MBA and the like. Similarly, Serial No.4 of para 1.2 of Appendix-I prescribes that a person should hold a recognised Bachelors Degree with a minimum of 3 years duration with Mathematics at the Higher Secondary level with at least 50% at the qualifying examination for general category candidates and 45% for reserved category candidates, for admission to MCA Courses.
6. Regulation 1.3 stipulated that those Regulations would come into force with effect from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. The Regulations were actually publ
