Kerala High Court
Apj Abdul Kalam Technological ... vs M/S P.A. Aziz College Of Engineering & ... on 29 June, 2018
Author: Hrishikesh Roy
Bench: Hrishikesh Roy, A.K.Jayasankaran Nambiar
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT:
THE HONOURABLE THE ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE MR.HRISHIKESH ROY
&
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A.K.JAYASANKARAN NAMBIAR
THURSDAY, THE 5TH DAY OF JULY 2018 / 14TH ASHADHA, 1940
WA.No. 1333 of 2018 IN WPC. 21340/2018
AGAINST THE ORDER/JUDGMENT IN WP(C) 21340/2018 of HIGH COURT OF
KERALA DATED 29-06-2018
APPELLANT(S)/RESPONDENTS 1 & 2:
1 APJ ABDUL KALAM TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY,
REPRESENTED BY ITS REGISTRAR,
CET CAMPUS,
TRIVANDRUM - 695 016.
2 THE REGISTRAR,
APJ ABDUL KALAM TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY, CET CAMPUS,
TRIVANDRUM - 695 016.
BY ADV.SRI.S.KRISHNAMOORTHY, SC, KTU
RESPONDENT(S)/PETITIONER/3RD RESPONDENT :
1. M/S P.A. AZIZ COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY,
GREEN HILLS, KARAKULAM,
TRIVANDRUM - 695 564,
REPRESENTED BY ITS CHAIRMAN CUM MANAGING TRUSTEE.
2. COMMISSIONER OF ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS,
OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER FOR ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS,
HOUSING BOARD BUILDING, TRIVANDRUM - 695 002.
R2 BY SRI.SURINE GEORGE IPE, GOVERNMENT PLEADER
R BY SRI.R.T.PRADEEP
THIS WRIT APPEAL HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 05-07-2018,
THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
DG
HRISHIKESH ROY, Ag.CJ
&
A.K.JAYASANKARAN NAMBIAR, J.
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W.A.No.1333 of 2018
---------------------------------------------------------------
Dated this the 5th day of July, 2018
JUDGMENT
A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar, J.
The 1st and 2nd respondents in W.P.(C).No.21340 of 2018 are the appellants before us. For the sake of convenience, the reference to parties in this judgment is as it appears in the writ petition. The writ petitioner approached this Court consequent to denial of affiliation to his engineering college for the academic year 2018-19, inter alia on the ground that there were defects found in respect of the college and the said defects had not been cured within the time granted. It would appear that, against the denial of the affiliation, the petitioner approached the Appeal Committee, which rejected his appeal on 15.05.2018 by Ext.P7 order. The Appeal Committee had taken into consideration the report of the Expert Visit Committee which had pointed out certain deficiencies in the application preferred by the petitioner for affiliation, and the defects noted were primarily with regard to the belated receipt of AICTE approval as also that the college did not have KSEB power supply.
2. The learned single Judge who considered the writ petition, took note of the fact that there was an earlier approval granted by the AICTE to the college which was conducting engineering programmmes from 2003 onwards, and that although the AICTE approval was withdrawn, it was subsequently restored for the academic year 2017-18. As regards the electricity connection, the learned single Judge took note of the submission of counsel for the petitioner that they were using a generator and were taking steps to restore the electricity supply as well and that it was subsequently W.A.1333/2018 2 restored. Thereafter, referring to the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Parshvanath Charitable Trust and Others v. All India Council for Technical Education [(2003) 3 SCC 385] and the time schedule prescribed therein in respect of approval, affiliation and admission to engineering colleges, the learned single Judge found that, in the instant case, it was on account of an erroneous rejection of the application for affiliation by the University that the time line could not be adhered to by the petitioners. The schedule prescribed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the decision referred above was held not to preclude this Court from interfering with the decision of the University and restoring the rights of the petitioner as they stood on the cut-off date. Thereafter, finding that the University could not have refused affiliation, especially when the AICTE approval had been obtained by the petitioner, a direction was issued to the University to grant affiliation to the petitioner within a week from the date of receipt of a copy of the judgment. A further direction was issued stating that if the petitioner produced the order of affiliation the Commissioner of Entrance Examination would include petitioner's college also for the allotment process.
3. In the appeal before us, the 1st and 2nd respondents in the writ petition, who are the appellants, would point out that the writ petitioner had obtained the AICTE approval only on 27.04.2018, as against the cut-off date for obtaining such approval of 10.04.2018 stipulated in the Parshvanath Charitable Trust (supra). It is stated that on account of the belated obtaining of AICTE approval, the application for affiliation also came to be preferred belatedly and the rejection of the said application was also belatedly on 15.05.2018 by the Appellate Committee. The point urged by counsel for the appellant is essentially that, in as much as the writ petitioners had obtained the AICTE approval only beyond the cut-off date of 10 th W.A.1333/2018 3 April of the year concerned, as laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Parshvanath Charitable Trust (supra), they could aspire for an affiliation only in the next academic year, namely 2019-2020. It is stated therefore, that the learned single Judge erred in directing the grant of affiliation to the petitioner, more so, when there was admittedly a breach of the time line prescribed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Parshvanath Charitable Trust (supra).
4. We have heard Sri.S.Krishnamoorthy, learned counsel appearing for the appellants herein, Sri.R.T.Pradeep, learned counsel appearing for the 1 st respondent, writ petitioner. We have also heard the learned Government Pleader for the 2nd respondent. On a consideration of facts and circumstances and the submission made across the Bar, we find that in Parshvanath Charitable Trust (supra) the Supreme Court has, taking note of the need for completing the admission process to engineering colleges within a prescribed time limit, held that the grant/refusal of approval, and admission schedule, as stated in paragraphs 40 and 41 of the judgment, should be strictly adhered to by all the authorities concerned including AICTE, University, the State Government and any other authority directly or indirectly connected with the grant of approval and admission. A caveat has also been entered that no person or authority would have the power or jurisdiction to vary the schedule prescribed in the said judgment. Taking cue from the said judgment and the directions contained therein, we find that for the petitioner to aspire for an affiliation for his college in the academic year 2018-19, he ought to have obtained the AICTE approval on or before 10.04.2018. No doubt, if the application for approval had been rejected by the AICTE by the said date, he would have been granted a further period upto 30.04.2018 for getting such an approval in the appeal proceedings. Here, we are not concerned with the date of 30.04.2018 because admittedly the petitioner's application for AICTE approval was W.A.1333/2018 4 not rejected at first instance; rather it was belatedly issued on 27.04.2018. Thus it is case where the petitioner could not obtain the AICTE approval, in adherence to the schedule laid down by the Supreme Court in Parshvanath Charitable Trust (supra) before 10.04.2018. In our opinion, the said fact alone, without anything more, would dis-entitle the petitioner from approaching the University for an affiliation for the academic year 2018-19. It is also required to be noticed that the information with regard to the belated AICTE approval received by him was also placed for the first time before the University only after 08.05.2018, which itself was belated. It was the belated submission of the necessary details that resulted in a belated Appellate Committee decision on 15.05.2018, the last date prescribed for grant of affiliation as per the schedule laid down by the Supreme Court. At any rate, since, as already noticed, the petitioner could not have aspired for affiliation for the year 2018-19, we allow this writ appeal by setting aside the impugned judgment of the learned single Judge and making it clear that nothing in this judgment will stand in the way of the writ petitioner seeking an affiliation for the academic year 2019- 2020 based on the approval secured by him for the following year and subject to his satisfying the conditions for approval, within the time schedule laid down by the Supreme Court in Parshvanath Charitable Trust (supra).
The Writ appeal is allowed as above.
Sd/-
HRISHIKESH ROY (Ag.CHIEF JUSTICE) Sd/-
A.K.JAYASANKARAN NAMBIAR (JUDGE) True copy P.A to Judge DG/06.07.18