Delhi High Court - Orders
Dr. Rajendra Prasad Itc & Anr vs Directorate General Of Training & Anr on 14 December, 2023
Author: Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav
Bench: Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav
[1]
$~10
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(C) 12080/2023
DR. RAJENDRA PRASAD ITC & ANR. ..... Petitioners
Through: Mr. Amitesh Kumar, Advocate
alongwith Ms. Priti Kumari and Mr. Mrinal
Kishor, Advocates
Versus
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF TRAINING & ANR.
..... Respondents
Through: Mr. Neeraj, Sr. Panel Counsel alongwith
Mr. Vedansh Anand, G.P. and Mr. Apoorv
Shankar, Advocate for respondent No.1 with Mr.
Rajesh Kumar, Assistant Director
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV
ORDER
% 14.12.2023
1. The present petition has been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking following prayers:-
"a) issue a writ of mandamus or any other suitable writ, order or direction to the Respondent No. 1 and 2 to activate the NCVT-MIS and NIMI portal respectively and provide access to the petitioners; and/or
b) issue a writ of mandamus or any other suitable writ, order or direction to respondents to enable uploading/migration of data of trainees admitted in academic session 2022-24 (already uploaded and verified on NIMI portal) from NIMI portal to the NCVT-MIS portal and to enable generation of hall ticket for the examination in time bound manner; and/or
c) pass any such other orders/directions as this Hon'ble Court deems fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case".
2. This is second round of litigation. This court vide order dated 19.05.2023 in W.P.(C) 5660/2023 disposed of petitioner no.1's earlier writ This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 20/12/2023 at 20:52:18 [2] petitions with direction to conduct an inquiry with respect to showing of one candidate in Shift-1 instead of Shift-2. Paragraph nos.6 to 10 of the order dated 19.05.2023 passed in W.P.(C) 5660/2023 read as under:-
"6. The submission made by learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner-institution relates to factual verification. If a particular student is admitted in a particular year and if on account of typographical error or mistake, instead of Shift-2, Shift-1 is mentioned, the same can always be corrected subject to proper verification by the appropriate authority. It is for this reason, without going into other aspects of the matter, at this stage, this court is inclined to direct respondent no.1-DGT to conduct an inquiry with the assistance of State-DGT to verify as to whether the concerned candidate was admitted in Shift-2. If, on inquiry it is found that the candidate was admitted in Shift-2, the necessary correction be carried out by the respondent no.1-DGT and the updated data be uploaded.
7. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner-institution, however, states that no inquiry is required to be conducted in view of the facts existing under the present case. However, this court is not inclined to give any finding as to whether the candidate was admitted in Shift-2 or otherwise. Such an aspect remains subject to the inquiry to be conducted by the DGT with the assistance of State-DGT.
8. Needless to state that since the examinations are likely to commence, therefore, the inquiry be conducted before the date of commencement of the examination.
9. The petitioner-institution shall be heard before passing any adverse order against it.
10. With the aforesaid directions, the instant petition stands disposed of."
3. In pursuance of the directions passed by this court, an inquiry was conducted and it has been found that one candidate was incorrectly shown in Unit-2 of Shift-1 in the year 2021 and accordingly, he was migrated to Unit- 2 of Shift-2. The inquiry report, however, concludes that since petitioner no.1 did not admit any trainee in Shift-1/Unit-2 from the two consecutive years i.e., 2020 and 2021, therefore, petitioner no.1 has been de-activated for the Academic Year 2022. The inquiry report, therefore, recommends that the This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 20/12/2023 at 20:52:18 [3] admissions made in Shift-1/Unit-2 in the year 2022, be considered in the following year i.e., 2023.
4. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of petitioner no.1 submits that the approach of the respondent-DGT in their conclusion of not admitting the students in two consecutive years is erroneous, inasmuch as, the applicable circular dated 12.05.2022 debars the institutions to admit/upload the data for two consecutive years in same shift/unit. He, therefore, explains that petitioner no.1 admitted the candidates in the year 2018 in Shift-1 and, therefore, it was only entitled to admit the candidates in the year 2020 in Shift-1 and thereafter, in the year 2022. According to him, there could not have been any admission in Shift-1 in the year 2019 and in the year 2021. He then, explains that if the instructions in the circular dated 12.05.2022 are applied in the instant case, the understanding of the respondent is incorrect and accordingly, the candidates who are admitted in the year 2022 in Unit- 2/Shift-1 be allowed to continue their study.
5. The aforesaid submission is vehemently opposed by learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent-DGT. He justifies the inquiry report while taking this court through various circulars including the circulars dated 20.12.2018 and 10.11.2022. He submits that if 100 percent seats are lying vacant for two consecutive years in any trade/unit, the concerned institution will be deactivated on NCVT-MIS portal. The de-activated trades/units will be activated only after review by NCVT Sub-Committees on the basis of fresh Joint Inspection Committee Report.
6. According to him, the petitioner no.1 could have admitted the candidates in the year 2021, as in the year 2020, there was no admission in Unit-2/Shift-1. He further submits that the petitioner no.1 rightly admitted This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 20/12/2023 at 20:52:18 [4] one candidate in Unit-2/Shift-1 in the year 2021, however, at the request of petitioner no.1, the said candidate was migrated to Unit-2/Shift-2. Learned counsel, therefore, explains that once the petitioner no.1 has been de- activated, the admission granted by the petitioner no.1 in the year 2022 cannot be regularized. He further submits that even otherwise also, the veracity of the admissions as to whether the candidates fulfill the basic eligibility criteria etc. has not been examined by the respondent-DGT as the details of those candidates were not migrated to NCVT portal from NIMI portal. He submits that merely uploading the data on NIMI portal is not the only criterion for accepting the admissions to have been validly made.
7. I have considered the submissions made by learned counsel for the parties and have perused the record.
8. The inquiry report unequivocally states that one trainee was wrongly uploaded in Shift-1/Unit-2 and, therefore, the respondent-DGT has shifted the same trainee from Shift-1/Unit-2 to Shift-2/Unit-2 in compliance of the order passed by this court in W.P. (C) 5660/2023 on 19.05.2023.
9. The respondent-DGT, however, in their inquiry report has taken into consideration the Academic Years 2019, 2020 and 2021 together and have concluded that in the year 2020 and 2021 in Unit-2/Shift-1, there was no admission made by the petitioner no.1, therefore, it stands de-activated. For the sake of clarity, the inquiry report dated 24.11.2023 is reproduced as under:-
"Enquiry Report in compliance to judgement dated 02.11.2023 passed in WPC 12080/2023 titled Dr Rajendra Prasad ITC Vs DGT That the captioned matter was came up for hearing on 02.11.2023, and the Hon'ble court has directed the petitioner to produce the This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 20/12/2023 at 20:52:19 [5] relevant documents made during the session 2020-21 within 07 days from issue of the order. The respondents shall conduct the inquiry within 15 days from the date of receipt of the documents and the outcome of the same needs to be communicated to the Hon'ble court on next date.
2. That the petitioner institute has filed the additional affidavit indicting the admission made in the portal. Theses data's have been matched with existing records in the NCVT portal and the following observations are made.
The admission made by the petitioner in 04 units (2+2) of fitter trade is mentioned below -
Table: Year wise admission data in each unit of fitter trade Year No of trainees admitted No of trainees admitted in in Shift-1 Shift-2 Unit-1 Unit-2 Unit-1 Unit-2 2018 21 21 - -2019 - - 20 20
2020 20 - - -
2021 - - 20 20(19+1*)
2021 20 20# - -
Note: 1- One trainee, namely, Mr. Shailesh Kumar was shifted from shift-1/ unit-2 to shift-2/unit-2 20# The admission of the 20 trainees are subject matter of instant writ petition.
3. That it is an admitted fact that the 01 trainees was wrongly uploaded in shift-1/unit-2 and DGT has shifted the same trainees from shift-1/ unit-2 to shift-2/unit-2 in compliance of judgement dated 19.05.2023 passed by the Hon'ble court in WPC 5660/2023. From perusal of above table, it is clear that the petitioner has not admitted any trainees in the shift-1/unit- 2 from the 02 consecutive year ie Year 2020 and 2021.
4. It is pertinent to mention that, in any ITI, if the 100% seats are lying vacant for last two consecutive years in any trade/units than that particular unit will result in deactivation on NCVT portal as notified vide letter dated 20.12.2018, Further, one-time relaxation was afforded to the ITIs falling under ambit of order dated 20.12.2018 due to COVID-19 pandemic. However, to ascertain the readiness of ITIs to impart training in such cases, SSDEC's of respective state is empowered to make recommendation for considering the admission for such ITIs from session 2023, as This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 20/12/2023 at 20:52:19 [6] notified in the OM dated 10.11.2022.
5. That the petitioner case is also falling under the ambit of the letter dated 20.12.2018 and 10.11.2022 since the unit-2 of shift-1 was vacant for 02 consecutive year and same is liable to be deactivated in portal. Further DGT has provided the relaxation to such ITIs whose admission are lying vacant for 02 years due to COVID-19 pandemic in OM dated 10.11.2022 but such ITIs was allowed to take admission from session 2023-25 only based upon the recommendation of SSDEC.
Conclusion:
Therefore, it is concluded that DGT has rightly allowed the petitioner institute to admit the 20 trainees of the instant writ petition in fitter trade from session 2023-25 vide OM dated 18.09.2023."
10. The instructions dated 20.12.2018 would indicate that if 100 per cent seats are lying vacant for two consecutive years in any trade/unit, it will attract deactivation on NCVT-MIS portal. The instructions dated 20.12.2018 read as under:-
"No. DGT-12/01/2018-TC (Part) Government of India Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Directorate General of Training Employment Exchange Buliding, Pusa Room No, 105, First Floor, New Delhi-110012 Dated: 20.12.2018 To, The All State Directors (Dealing with Craftsman Training Scheme) Subject: De-activation of ITIs whose seats are lying 100% vacant for 2 consecutive years regarding.
Sir, As decided in the meeting of NCVT Sub-Committee dealing with affiliation held on 18th Oct. 2018 any ITI either Government or Private if This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 20/12/2023 at 20:52:19 [7] 100% seats are lying vacant for 2 consecutive years in any trades/units will attract de-activation on NCVT MIS portal. The de-activated trades/units will be activated only after review by NCVT Sub-Committee in the basis of fresh Joint Inspection Committee Report.
11. It is, thus, seen that there is a provision for deactivation of trade/unit if any institute keeps 100 percent seats vacant for two consecutive years. Another instruction dated 10.11.2022 relied upon by the respondent-DGT would indicate that one time relaxation from deactivation of trade/unit of ITI, whose 100 per cent seats were lying vacant for two consecutive years, was granted on account of Covid pandemic. The instructions dated 10.11.2022 read as under:-
"Employment Exchange Building, IARI Campus, Near Pusa ITI, New Delhi-110012 Date: 10.11.2022 To, All Principal Secretaries of States/UTs (Dealing with Craftsmen Training Scheme).
Subject: One-time relaxation from De-activation of trade/units of ITIs whose 100 % seats are lying vacant for 2 consecutive years regarding.
Ref: DGT-12/01/2018-TC(Part) dated 20.12.2018.
Sir/Madam, This is regarding modification of the provisions contained in letter DGT-12/01/2018- TC(Part) dated 20.12.2018.
According to this letter, if in any ITI, either Government or Private, 100% seats are lying vacant for last two consecutive years in any trade/unit, it will result in its deactivation on NCVT MIS Portal.
Many representations are being received from ITIs seeking relaxation of the above provisions as they were not able to get admissions due to Covid pandemic situation. This matter has been examined in DGT. It has been decided that keeping in view the difficulties faced by the ITIs during Covid pandemic, one-time relaxation will be given to them from the provision of the above- mentioned letter DGT-12/01/2018-TC(Part) dated 20.12.2018.
This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 20/12/2023 at 20:52:19 [8] However, to ascertain the readiness of ITIs to impart training in such cases, SSDEC's of respective states may examine and share the details with DGT regarding such ITIs, and based on the reports received from SSDEC, ITI will be considered for taking admission from the session 2023-24.
This issues with the approval of competent authority".
12. Further, Clause-VI of the instructions communicated by the respondent-DGT on 12.05.2022 reads as under:
"---
vi. In Two Year, trades, in same shift/unit, Admission and uploading CANNOT be done in consecutive years."
13. If the instructions dated 12.05.2022 are considered in juxtaposition to the factual situation in the instant case, the same would indicate that if any admission is granted in the year 2018 in Shift-1, the institution would not be entitled to admit the students in Shift-1 in the year 2019 and thereafter, in the year 2021 and so on and so forth.
14. In the instant case, two consecutive years which have been considered are 2020 and 2021 and on account of non-admission in these two consecutive years in Unit-2/Shift-1, the petitioner no.1 was treated to be deactivated.
15. It is to be noted that the instructions dated 12.05.2022 and the salient pattern which emerges from the admission mechanism clearly indicates that the institutions are only entitled to admit the students in alternate year and they cannot admit the students in two consecutive years in the same Shift/Unit. Therefore, in the year 2021, petitioner no.1 was not legally entitled to admit the candidates in Shift-1.
16. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent-DGT, however, submits that if petitioner no.1 had admitted the candidates in the This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 20/12/2023 at 20:52:19 [9] year 2021, the same would have been accepted for the reason that in the year 2020, there was no admission in Unit-2/Shift-1. He, however, further submits that had the same been done, the equal number of candidates would have been reduced in the following year.
17. It is thus understood that the institution concerned cannot violate the permissible intake norms as in the instant case, the permissible intake is of 40 and in any given year, the petitioner no.1 cannot exceed more than 40 candidates. Had the students been admitted in the year 2021 in Unit-2/Shift- 1, petitioner no.1 having already admitted 40 candidates in Shift-2, would have exceeded the permissible intake capacity of 40.
18. In any case, the respondent-DGT themselves have decided to grant one time relaxation from deactivation vide instructions dated 10.11.2022.
19. Learned counsel for petitioner no.1 submits that the admission could not take place in the year 2020 in Unit-2/Shift-1 on account of Covid difficulties.
20. It is thus seen that even considering the present case in view of the Covid relaxation norms, petitioner no.1 is entitled for relaxation for one year.
21. So far as the objection with respect to non-verification of the admissions and their veracity is concerned, it is to be noted that petitioner no.1 uploaded the data of the trainees on NIMI portal on 30.10.2022, whereas the cutoff date was 06.01.2023.
22. Since the NCVT portal did not allow the uploaded data to be migrated from NIMI portal to NCVT portal, therefore, the verification by the respondent-DGT could not take place.
This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 20/12/2023 at 20:52:19 [10]
23. This court vide order dated 25.05.2023 in W.P.(C) 3187/2023 and vide order dated 18.08.2023 in W.P.(C) 10674/2023, considered the cases relating to admission and issued various directions on their verification. Paragraph nos.6 to 13 of the order dated 25.05.2023, passed in W.P.(C) 3187/2023 read as under:-
"6. Since learned counsel for the petitioner(s) has taken a categorical stand that the students admitted by each ITI fulfil the basic eligibility criteria and they were admitted before the cut-off date, therefore, only on account of technical reasons, the students admitted by each ITI cannot be denied the chance to appear in their respective examinations.
7. It is for this reason this court finds it appropriate to direct the respondent-State Directorate to verify the data of each ITI as to whether the students admitted by the ITIs are fulfilling the basic eligibility criteria for their admission against their respective trades. Respondent-State Directorate will also satisfy itself with respect to the date of admission as to whether the same was granted before the cut-off date.
8. Upon verification of the aforesaid aspect, let the respondent-State Directorate to intimate the petitioner-institutions as to how many students admitted by them are not approved. If in case, any student has any grievance, they would be entitled to raise it in accordance with law.
9. If the concerned DGT finds that the students admitted by the ITIs fulfils the basic eligibility criteria for their admission and they were admitted before the cut-off date, let appropriate directions be issued to enable the petitioner-institutions to upload the relevant date on the NIMI Portal.
10. Consequently, let appropriate steps be taken by respondent-DGT to activate the NIMI portal, enabling the petitioner-institutions to upload the data of admission of the students.
11. Needless to state that if the respondent-State Directorate approves the admission, upon activation of the said portal, respondent-State Directorate be enabled to migrate the data from NIMI Portal to NCVT MIS Portal.
12. Let the respondents to immediately notify the activation of NIMI Portal so that the petitioner-institutions can upload the data of the students for verification by the concerned respondent-State Directorate.
This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 20/12/2023 at 20:52:19 [11]
13. Depending upon the inquiry and the steps to be taken by the respondents, the eligible students be allowed to appear in the instant examinations."
24. Since in the instant case, this court has extended one year relaxation for petitioner no.1 in the year 2020 for non-admission of the students in Unit-2/Shift-1, therefore, as a natural corollary, the deactivation of petitioner no.1 is set aside for the Academic Year 2022 in Unit-2/Shift-1.
25. Accordingly, it is directed that subject to verification by the respondent-DGT, the twenty trainees claimed to have been admitted in the year 2022 in Fitter Trade be considered to have been admitted in Unit- 2/Shift-1 within one month from today and depending upon the same, further action be taken by all concerned.
26. Needless to state that the anomaly appears to have been created on account of one candidate being wrongly shown to have been admitted in Unit-2/Shift-1 in the year 2021. Therefore, keeping in mind the fact that the candidates were already admitted in the year 2022, this court passed the aforesaid directions under peculiar circumstances. The same shall not to be treated as a precedent.
27. The respondents are also at liberty to issue comprehensive fresh directions for all concerned indicating the manner and method of admission in the respective ITIs.
28. In view of the aforesaid directions, the petition stands disposed of.
PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV, J DECEMBER 14, 2023 p'ma This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 20/12/2023 at 20:52:19