Judgment : 1. Can an unaided or self-financing course be started in an aided college ? Can the University grant affiliation to such an unaided or self-financing course ? These questions have been baffling the managements and students for long. 2. The Writ Petitions have been filed seeking to prohibit the aided colleges affiliated to the various Universities in the State from conducting unaided or self-financing under graduate or post graduate courses. There is also a prayer to restrain the Government and Universities from granting approval and affiliation to start self-financing courses anew in aided colleges and to delink such courses hitherto conducted. The grievance projected in the writ petitions is that the interest of the students undergoing the aided courses would be in peril if the infrastructural and the instructional facilities are shared by students undergoing unaided or self-financing courses. The writ petitioners are the management of two unaided colleges and its association apart from one student of an aided college and the respondents are the Government, Universities and a few Colleges. 3. The grant of affiliation to a college or a course by an University is governed by the University Acts like the Kerala University Act, 1974, the Calicut University Act, 1975, the Mahatma Gandhi University Act, 1985 etc. There are also Statutes and Regulations in addition which detail the procedures for obtaining affiliation to the various colleges and courses and the pre-requisites for the grant of same. No statutory prohibition or inhibition in any of the University Acts or Statutes has been brought to my notice as regards the grant of affiliation to a self-financing course in an aided college. Such self-financing courses are being conducted in the aided colleges of the State for the past over a decade and still the students often do not get admission in the desired course or discipline. Independent provisions in the University Acts and Statutes as regards aided and unaided colleges are not decisive to hold that there cannot be an unaided course in an aided college. 4. Independent provisions in the University Acts and Statutes as regards aided and unaided colleges are not decisive to hold that there cannot be an unaided course in an aided college. 4. The petitioners place heavy reliance on the following observation of the Division Bench of this Court in Calicut University v. Chirst College, Irinjalakuda [W.A.No.2096/2009] : "We also feel that infrastructure facilities of an aided college should not be shared by 'another institution' started in the self-financed sector because, if it is permitted, the students in the aided college will have to share the facilities which may lead to lack of required facilities for such students leading to the aided college loosing affiliation already enjoyed by it." The 'another institution' mentioned above is the Christ College of Physical Education (an altogether different entity though belonging to the same educational agency) which wanted to conduct an unaided course in the aided college - Christ College. That is not the case in these batch of writ petitions where the same college belonging to one educational agency wants to start an additional course therein though in the unaided or self-financing stream. Thus the observation of the Division Bench in Christ College's case is clearly distinguishable and cannot be said to be one prohibiting the grant of affiliation by the University to an unaided course in an aided college. 5. The infrastructural and instructional facilities available to start a college or course is assessed by the inspection commission constituted for the purpose on the basis of which only further steps are taken. The Syndicate of the University then resolves to obtain the views of the Government as regards grant of affiliation to any college or course and the resolution is forwarded by its Registrar. The Government normally insists on an agreement with the management as regards the availability of teaching staff, financial commitment, sharing of seats etc. before giving No Objection Certificate. Several of such agreements executed in the recent past contain clauses to the effect that the services of staff of aided sector will not be utilised for the unaided course and that there will not be any financial commitment to the Government. The Government also reserves unto itself the power to withdraw sanction without formal notice to the educational agency in the event of breach of any of the terms and conditions of the agreement. The Government also reserves unto itself the power to withdraw sanction without formal notice to the educational agency in the event of breach of any of the terms and conditions of the agreement. This would allay the apprehension of the petitioners that the services of the teaching and non-teaching staff in the aided sector would be utilised for the unaided sector too in the colleges. 6. Moreover the University Acts and the Statutes provide for dis-affiliation of the college or course on proved violation of the terms of the grant of affiliation on motion made by the aggrieved parties. Section 72 of the Mahatma Gandhi University Act, 1985 and Article 14 of Chapter 23 of the Mahatma Gandhi University Statutes, 1997 concern dis- affiliation and similar provisions are there in other University Acts and Statutes. Even any of the teacher or the student of a college if aggrieved can set the ball in motion for the revocation of No Objection Certificate by the Government or the dis- affiliation by the University. Thus there are inbuilt checks and balances in the University Acts and Statutes in order to prevent violation of the conditions of No Objection Certificate or the terms of grant of affiliation. 7. The petitioners contend that there will be huge disparity between students undergoing aided courses and unaided courses in the same college with two sets of teachers and different scale of tuition fee. Such disparity would arise only if the same courses with identical disciplines are conducted in the aided and unaided streams in the same college which of course should be averted in future. The Government is however free to permit unaided courses in aided colleges in a different discipline which will not cause any embarrassment to the students or staff. It is upto the Government to grant a No Objection Certificate as per its existing policy and it is for the University to grant affiliation depending upon the facilities available. The Supreme Court in State of Himachal Pradesh and others v. Himachal Pradesh Nizi Vyavsayik Prishikshan Kendra Sangh [ (2011) 6 SCC 597 ] had occasion to observe as follows:- "21. ............. Inasmuch as ultimately it is the responsibility of the State to provide good education, training and employment, it is best suited to frame a policy or either modify/alter a decision depending on the circumstance based on relevant and acceptable materials. ............. Inasmuch as ultimately it is the responsibility of the State to provide good education, training and employment, it is best suited to frame a policy or either modify/alter a decision depending on the circumstance based on relevant and acceptable materials. The courts do not substitute their views in the decision of the State Government with regard to policy matters. In fact, the court must refuse to sit as appellate authority or super legislature to weigh the wisdom of legislation or policy decision of the Government unless it runs counter to the mandate of the Constitution." Thus it is beyond the purview of this Court to weigh the policy decision of the Government in the matter of granting or refusing a No Objection Certificate for an unaided course to be started in an aided college unless it runs counter to any law. 8. It is extremely doubtful as to whether a management association could maintain a writ petition of this nature in view of the dictum in Dr.Pournamy Mohan and others v. State of Kerala and others [ (2012) 1 KLT 686 ]. The two unaided colleges have not established any violation of any of the provisions of the University Act or Statutes leave alone the legal injury caused to them by the grant of affiliation. The solitary student who also figures as one of the writ petitioners has no specific case that his studies have impaired owing to the grant of affiliation to an unaided course in his college. Neither the No Objection Certificate issued by the Government nor the affiliation granted to any unaided course by the University is challenged in any one of the writ petitions. Only the letter addressed by the Registrar of the Mahatma Gandhi University seeking the views of the Government for affiliation has been exhibited and the writ petitions are hence pre-mature. 9. Education is a national wealth which must be distributed equally and widely as far as possible in the interest of creating an egalitarian society to enable the Country to rise high and face global competition [See P.A.Inamdar v. State of Maharashtra ( 2005 (6) SCC 537 )]. More educational avenues should be opened for the students of the State of Kerala and some of the courses like B.Com. (Taxation), B.A (Animation), M.Sc. (Actuarial Science) etc. are new disciplines. More educational avenues should be opened for the students of the State of Kerala and some of the courses like B.Com. (Taxation), B.A (Animation), M.Sc. (Actuarial Science) etc. are new disciplines. The objection of the respondents that the writ petitions are engineered by a few unaided colleges with a commercial object in order to garner students cannot altogether be brushed aside. The writ petitions fail and are dismissed. No costs.