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2014 DIGILAW 647 (SC)

Jayamatha Engineering College v. Union of India

2014-06-26

SHIVA KIRTI SINGH, VIKRAMAJIT SEN

body2014
ORDER : This I.A. NO.6 in Special Leave Petition (Civil) No.7277 of 2014 has been filed on behalf of All India Council for Technical Education (for short "AICTE")seeking extension in the Schedule laid down by this Court in Parshvanath Charitable Trust and others v. All India Council for Technical Education and others, (2013) 3 SCC 385 as follows: "41. The appropriate Schedule, thus, would be as follows: Event Schedule Conduct of Entrance Examination (AIEEE/State CET/Mgt. quota exams, etc.) In The Month of May Declaration of Result of Qualifying Examination (12th Exam or similar) and Entrance Examination On or before 5th June 1st round of counselling/admission for allotment of seats To be completed on or before 10th July 2nd round counselling for allotment of seats To be completed on or before 10th July Last round of counselling for allotment of seats To be completed on or before 20th July Last date for admitting candidates in seats other than allotted above 30th July However, any number of rounds for counselling could be conducted depending on local requirements, but all the rounds shall be completed before 30th July Commencement of academic session 1st August Last date up to which students can be admitted against vacancies arising due to any reason (no student should be admitted in any institution after the last date under any quota) 15th August Last date of granting or refusing approval by AICTE 10th April Last date of granting or refusing approval by University/State Government 15th May 42. The admission to academic courses should start, as proposed, by 1st August of the relevant year. The seats remaining vacant should again be duly notified and advertised. All seats should be filled positively by 15th August after which there shall be no admission, whatever be the reason or ground." 2. In the application, the AICTE has averred that it has received 7280 applications from existing technical institutions in the country, of which 6751 applications have been processed already and the remaining 529 applications are pending consideration as on 4th June, 2014. Since the exercise was of this magnitude, all applications could not be processed so as to comprehensively respond to the directions of this Court, reproduced above. Mr. L. Nageswara Rao, learned Additional Solicitor General, states that if time is extended by one week, all the remaining applications shall also be processed by AICTE. Since the exercise was of this magnitude, all applications could not be processed so as to comprehensively respond to the directions of this Court, reproduced above. Mr. L. Nageswara Rao, learned Additional Solicitor General, states that if time is extended by one week, all the remaining applications shall also be processed by AICTE. The prayer in the Writ Petitions is substantially the same since the stand of the AICTE is that although, after due consideration, EOA for Academic Year 2014-2015 is recommended, because of the deadline given by this Court, the approval cannot be granted. 3. There can be no gainsaying that every eligible student/candidate desirous of participating in further education, especially where resources and institutions are available, should be accommodated so long as academic standards are not undermined. 4. We are satisfied that if the respondent - AICTE is granted seven more days within which to decide all pending applications, these overriding interests shall be addressed. It is in these circumstances that we modify previous orders in the following manner: The AICTE is granted seven days within which to take a decision on all the applications pending before it. It shall first take up the applications in which it has already expressed willingness to grant approvals, but have not done so in deference of the Orders of this Court. Thereafter, the concerned Universities/State Authorities/Bodies which have the powers of granting affiliation shall take a decision on that subject within one week. It is for these reasons that the first round of counselling/admission for allotment of seats which was to be completed by 30th June, 2014 will now be completed by 15th July, 2014. The second round of counselling shall be completed by 22nd July, 2014 and the last round by 29th July, 2014. In this manner, the date of commencement of the Academic Session, as laid down by this Court above, shall not be disturbed. 5. It is made clear that all the Colleges who have been cleared for intake of students for the Academic Year 2014-2015, as envisaged in the process above, shall be cleared and considered for admitting students for the current Academic Year. Learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioners in some of the Writ Petitions apprehends that the respondents may adhere to Annexure P-7. We think that would not be appropriate in view of the orders contained herein. 6. Learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioners in some of the Writ Petitions apprehends that the respondents may adhere to Annexure P-7. We think that would not be appropriate in view of the orders contained herein. 6. I.A. NO.6 in Special Leave Petition (Civil) No.7277 of 2014 as well as the Writ Petitions are allowed in the above terms.