ORDER:

The present Writ Petition came to be filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking the following relief:-

“…. to issue an appropriate writ more in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the Respondents more particularly the 2nd Respondent Andhra Pradesh State Council for Higher Education in issuing the Notification dated 23.02.2024 inviting the managements of various private educational societies in the State for establishing the New Degree Colleges for various undergraduate courses oblivious of the fact that the existing degree colleges in the State itself are finding themselves into financial crisis inasmuch as over 40% of the allotted seats are vacant as being not only arbitrary, illegal and violative of Articles 14 and 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution of India and in contravention of Section 20 of the A.P.Education Act 1994 and the Rules vide G.O.Ms.No.36 Higher Education (C.E) Dated 15.07.2021 and consequently set aside the same and issue.….”

It is the case of the petitioners that the petitioners are Private Unaided Degree Colleges having been established and running various undergraduate courses catering to the educational needs of their jurisdictional districts in the State. The Petitioner-Institutions, being the private colleges, does not receive any aid from the Government and has to run on its own. Petitioner-Institutions have been strictly adhering to the Rules and regulations being framed by the respondent Nos.1 and 2 and there has been no laxity at any point of time. Despite being run in conformity of the requirements of the authorities, there are number of seats vacant in the Petitioner-Institutions in view of stiff competition coupled with the disinclination of the students to go for undergraduate courses and rather opt for technical/skill development related streams in order to seek better employment at later stages. There are several such other institutions which are also facing hardship to survive due to stiff competition and the strength of pupils deteriorating year by year. The Andhra Pradesh State Council for Higher Education (for short “Council”) - respondent No.2 herein, has been established by the Government by virtue of Act 16 of 1988 initially as an advisory body to the Government. Thus, respondent No.2 - Council is only an advisory body, but it lacks any competence to deal with the admission process or have any say in the matter of admissions or intake of the students in the Degree Colleges. Thus, the impugned Notification dated 23.02.2024 issued by respondent No.2 inviting the managements of various private educational societies in the State for establishing the New Degree Colleges for various undergraduate courses is beyond the powers vested in it. Section 20 of the Andhra Pradesh Education Act, 1982 mandates that the competent authority has to issue such notifications for establishing new private institutions duly considering the viability and other factors for establishing such new colleges. Even the Rules prescribed under G.O.Ms.No.36, Higher Education (C.E), Dated 15.07.2021 also mandates a scientific survey once in every 3 years by the competent authority. The competent authority also should look into the percentage of admissions in the existing degree colleges for the past 3 years. In the present case, respondent No.2 without doing such mandated exercise issued the impugned notification detrimental to the interest of the Petitioner institutions, purely in a mechanical manner.

The main grievance of the petitioners is that the existing degree colleges in the State including the Petitioner-Institutions have already been suffering financial crisis in view of the stiff competition inasmuch as about 40% of the seats remained unfilled. As a matter of fact, respondent No.2 Council appears to have not considered several crucial aspects before issuing the impugned Notification. The Mandal-wise statistics of the existing private unaided Degree Colleges vis-à-vis the pup