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2001 DIGILAW 324 (KAR)

NEHRU SMARAKA VIDYA KENDRA S SREE VENKATESWARA DENTAL COLLEGE AND HOSPITAL,UTTARAHALLI v. SUNEETHA R.

2001-04-03

ASHOK BHAN, D.V.SHYLENDRA KUMAR

body2001
ASHOK BHAN, J. ( 1 ) BEING aggrieved with the following directions issued by the single Judge, Sree Venkateswara Dental College and Hospital, Uttarahalli, Bangalore, appellant No. 1, being administered by the Nehru Smaraka Vidya Kendra Trust-Appellant No. 2 (hereinafter referred to as appellants) have filed these appeals :"in the result, I allow these petitions and direct that the Registrar of Banglore University shall verify the availability of vacancies in other recognised Colleges in the State of Karnataka against which the petitioners may be transferred taking into consideration the choice of the candidates and his/her merit at the time of admission to the first year of the Course. The transfer shall be against vacancies in the categories in which the petitioners were initially admitted. The transferee colleges shall be entitled to recover from the petitioners the fee prescribed for any such category of students, the transfers permitted after verification of the vacancy position shall be recognised by all concerned including the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences. An intimation regarding the transfer shall be sent to the Dental Council of India also. " ( 2 ) FACTS : Respondent writ petitioners (hereinafter referred to as 'the respondents') were admitted to the appellant college either under general merit category or from the Non-Karnataka payment merit category after taking the Common Entrance Test Respondents completed the first year BDS Course and are entering the second year BDS course. The examinations are conducted by the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Jayanagar, (hereinafter referred to as the 3rd respondent' ). Respondents filed the writ petition inter alia stating that at the time of admission it was represented to them by the C. E. T. that the college had been approved by the Government of Karnataka and affiliated with the University and also that the college had necessary infrastructural facility and was eligible to take students for BDS Course successfully and their degree would be approved and recognised. On the bona fide belief and representation made by the State Government and the C. E. T. respondents got themselves admitted to the appellant college for the academic year 1999-2000. ( 3 ) THAT the appellant college had applied for recognition from the Dental Council of India. Initially the college was given recognition for the academic year 1999-2000. On the bona fide belief and representation made by the State Government and the C. E. T. respondents got themselves admitted to the appellant college for the academic year 1999-2000. ( 3 ) THAT the appellant college had applied for recognition from the Dental Council of India. Initially the college was given recognition for the academic year 1999-2000. But later on the recognition was cancelled as the appellant did not have the necessary infrastructural as well as proper facility such as teaching staff, laboratory facilities, clinical facilities and proper class rooms. Earlier W. P. Nos. 160-167/1999, 136/2000, 23494/2000 and 19765/2000 were filed against appellant institution which were accepted and direction was issued to the appellants to transfer or admit the writ petitioners in those cases to any other recognised Dental College in Bangalore, so as to enable them to complete their BDS Course. Relying upon the Judgment in the said writ petitions a direction was sought in the present writ petitions as well directing the appellants and the University to transfer or admit from the appellant college to any other recognised Dental Colleges in Bangalore to enable them to complete their course. Learned single Judge relying upon the judgment rendered in the earlier writ petitions and taking note of the fact that writ appeals filed against the said orders were dismissed by the Division Bench accepted the writ petitions and issued the directions reproduced above which have been assailed in the present appeals. ( 4 ) DENTAL Council of India has by a notification dated 1st of Sept. 1993 framed regulations that govern establishment of New Dental Colleges, opening of higher courses of study and increase of admission capacity in the same. The Regulations prescribed the scheme and the format of the application made to the Central Government for the establishment of a new Dental College. The Scheme prescribes the qualifying criterion and inter alia provides that eligible organisations shall qualify to apply for permission to establish new Dental Colleges only after the following conditions are fulfilled. : (1) That dental education is one of the main objective of the applicant and; (2) That a minimum of 5 acres of land with constructed area as prescribed is owned and possessed by the applicant to set up the proposed Dental College. : (1) That dental education is one of the main objective of the applicant and; (2) That a minimum of 5 acres of land with constructed area as prescribed is owned and possessed by the applicant to set up the proposed Dental College. ( 5 ) THE constructed area which the eligible Organisation must own and possess for starting the first year of the course is 16,000 sq. ft and 40,000/- sq. ft for the fourth year with an intake capacity of 40 students per annum. The scheme Prescribed other requirements also which the applicant has to satisfy. ( 6 ) THE provisions of the Scheme notwithstanding the College in the instant case granted permission for the year 1998-99 even when it did not admittedly own and possess the prescribed extent of land and constructed area over the same on the date of the permission. The college was and even at present is running in a rented building. It was only after admissions had been made for the first and the second year that the Government of India realised that the permission granted to the college could not be renewed as it did not have 5 acres of land and the constructed area required under the Regulations. The permission was renewed only after the College filed an undertaking to the effect that it shall acquire the requisite infrastructure within a period of two years on or before July, 2002. Appellants after the permission was refused by the Government acquired 5 acres of land 20 kms outside Bangalore and started putting up a building. According to the appellant the building would be completed within the period of 2 years granted by the Government. ( 7 ) THE building is under construction and no hospital or hostel facilities are provided as required under the regulation. Under these conditions the question which arose for consideration before the single Judge was, whether the respondents should be shifted to some other college till such time the college fully satisfied the requirements under the Regulations and thereby qualifies for the grant of regular permission and consequent recognition of the qualifications that may be acquired by the students. This question has been answered in the affirmative by the single Judge relying upon an earlier decision rendered by this Court in W. P. Nos. This question has been answered in the affirmative by the single Judge relying upon an earlier decision rendered by this Court in W. P. Nos. 38737-753/1999 dated 19-11-1999 in which directions similar to the one issued in the writ petition was issued. This has been done keeping in view the following circumstances :"it say so because even when the petitioners have been admitted after the grant of permission by the Central Government, it cannot be disputed that the said grant has become suspect in the light of the refusal of the Government to renew the same till such time the College furnished an undertaking to remove the deficiencies in terms of land and building within a period of two years. The absence of a hospital and hostels for both boys and girls within the campus now being established by the management of the College as also the distance and resultant inconvenience in commuting to and for the college are sufficient to add to the woes of the students. Super added to all this is the uncertainty that will constantly haunt the students till they pass out from the college regarding grant of a regular permission in its favour of the college. While there may be students are unaffected by or insensitive to these circumstances, others like the petitioners herein, who were meritorious students selected by the CET Cell can legitimately argue that if they had known about the problems plagueing the institution in the beginning, they would not have opted for admission to the same. Interest of such students needs to be protected to bring certainty to their careers. Any such transfer will however be subject to availability of vacancies in other institutions, which is a matter that needs to be verified by the University at the appropriate level. " ( 8 ) MR. Naik, Counsel appearing for the appellant tried to draw a distinction between the cases that had been heard and disposed of earlier by this Court and the appeals in hand. The difference according to him lies in the fact that the respondents were admitted to the institution during the academic session 1999-2000 by which time it had secured the permission of the Central Government in terms of the order dated 29th Dec. 1998. The admissions made to the college after the grant of said permission did not suffer from any illegality or irregularity. 1998. The admissions made to the college after the grant of said permission did not suffer from any illegality or irregularity. The order of transfer of the students gives rise to an apprehension in the mind of the public that the qualification acquired from the appellant institution may not be recognised resulting in ruination of its reputation in the market. It was forcefully projected that the college had requisite equipment and other facilities for imparting the education. ( 9 ) WE are not convinced with the arguments advanced before us. The appellant even at present is running its college in a rented building. There is no hostel attached to the college. The proposed building is located 20 kms. away from Bangalore. The hostel which have been established for boys and girls are at a distance resulting in inconvenience to the students from commuting to and fro to the college. The permission granted to the appellant is conditional and in case their college fails to fulfil the requisite conditions then, the recognition may be refused on a later date. Thus an atmosphere of uncertainty would pervail and the students would not know till they pass out from the college as to whether the required permission would be granted in favour of the college or not. Learned single Judge in the circumstances has rightly issued the directions in terms of the order earlier passed in W. P. No. 38737-753/1999 which were later on affirmed by the Division Bench to protect and bring certainty to the career of the students. ( 10 ) FOR the reasons stated above, we do not find any merit in these appeals and dismiss the same with no order as to costs.