Document Fragment View

Matching Fragments

the statement of accounts of the University. It should be in the knowledge of the Finance Committee & Board of Governors."

Learned counsel for the petitioner has argued that Section 5(2) of the 2014 Act clearly violates their fundamental right under Article 19(1)(c) and 19(1)(g). It has been contended that they are a private college with no financial or other support from the Government. The only condition that they are bound to, is of being AICTE compliant. Being so they cannot be forced into affiliation with some university of which they do not approve particularly when PTU has a greater standing and enjoys a better reputation which attracts the students and merely because the college now falls within the geographical limits of the districts by the newly created legislation they cannot be made to abdicate their affiliation with PTU compulsorily. It is also stated that they would face unfair competition from a college which may be barely 5 to 10 KMS away but outside the geographical limits prescribed by the new statute and thus continue to enjoy the patronage of PTU attracting better and more students to adversely affect the petitioner institution. Apart from that,it is contended that the privileges conferred upon them by the PTU stand withdrawn by the new enactment virtually giving it to a retrospective effect which is impermissible.

We have also seen the reply of the State Government where reliance has been placed on Section 14(8) and Section 4(1) which is broadly in conformity with the afore noticed contention 41 of 48 of the PTU but in reply to para 12 of the petition they have further gone on to say that to promote technical education, training and research, it was decided by the government to bifurcate the jurisdiction of the PTU and establish new technical university in the State for the districts Bathinda, Barnala, Faridkot, Fatehgarh Sahib, Fazilka, Ferozepur, Mansa, Moga, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Patiala and Sangrur and Section 20(2) was incorporated in 2014 Act to enable the State Government to transfer available funds from the PTU to MRSSTU.

To a pointed question by us as to whether there is any deliberation by the Board on any empirical data, before it warranted capital outflow in the interest of the PTU, the learned counsel for the University could not provide any such reasoning. We were rather given access to the memorandum submitted before the Council of Ministers where it has been specifically stated that creation of the new University in the existing campus of Giani Zail Singh Punjab Technical University Bathinda there would be no financial burden on the State Government. It is to be noticed that this memorandum states that there exists in Giani Zail Singh Punjab Technical University Bathinda campus since 1989 functioning as an autonomous society under the Societies Act subsequently named as Giani Zail Singh College of Engineering & Technology Bathinda in whose campus the present MRSSTU is proposed to be set up. This memorandum 42 of 48 further reveals that PTU Jalandhar established in the year 1996 is a biggest university of the State with 283 technical institutions (Engineering, Management, Pharmacy, Architecture & Hotel Management Colleges) as it affiliates with approximately 62000 eats. It goes on to state that the workload of the university has increased and it is difficult for the university to provide time for research and development in the area of science and technology and the need is therefore felt to have another university in addition to PTU leading to the birth of MRSSTU.

Nothing has been shown to us from where it can be inferred that the PTU was at any stage associated with such deliberations. It is unknown as to what was the basis to conclude that the PTU was overburdened and unable to manage its affiliated institutions.

It is thus purely the decision of the Government with no corresponding inputs from the PTU which was intended to be having financial autonomy to manage its own affairs and thus Section 20(2) warranting capital outflow from PTU would clearly be an infringement on the financial autonomy of PTU as it permits financial poaching to deprive the PTU even of the finances which do not belong to the government and over which it would have no say. Money collected from students of PTU, alumni, philanthropist cannot be squandered away as it is clearly a breach of faith of these contributors who volunteered for the 43 of 48 corpus fund of the PTU.