FEDERAL INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vs. ADMISSION SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE FOR PROFESSIONAL COLLAGE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is the Principal of a Self Financing College. This writ petition is filed challenging Ext.P7, an order dated 18.6.2018 passed by the first respondent, the Admission Supervisory Committee for Professional Colleges. As per the impugned order, the first respondent has directed the petitioner herein to return to the third respondent an amount of Rs.2 Lakhs paid by her as fees for the entire course. A further direction has been issued to the second respondent to return to her an amount of Rs.10,000/-within a period of ten days.

(2.) The petitioner objected to the complaint pointing out that she had filed W.P.(C) No. 20769 of 2014 before this Court earlier and had also approached the Lok Ayuktha in C.C. No. 428 of 2015 and also the Permanent Lok Adalath. Therefore, it was contended that, the complaint was not maintainable. Since the third respondent had left the College after the cut off date that was stipulated, it was contended that she was liable to pay liquidated damages as per Clause 12.2.4 of the Prospectus. It was also contended that, under the provisions of the Consensual Agreement between the Self Financing Engineering College Management Association and the Government and the Government Order issued on the basis of the said agreement, the College was entitled to collect liquidated damages. It was contended that, the seat had remained vacant and no student was admitted to the said seat. The College therefore sought for the dismissal of the complaint.

(3.) The first respondent considered the respective contentions, found that the allotment of the third respondent to the petitioner college was due to an error committed by the second respondent, which was rectified by the order of this Court. Therefore, there was no fault on the part of the third respondent. The first respondent further found that the interim order in W.P.(C) No. 20769 of 2014 was passed by this Court on 14.8.2014, and the last date upto which admissions could have been made by the College in view of the decision of the Apex Court in Parshvanath Charitable Trust v. AICTE was 16.8.2014. Therefore, there was sufficient time for the petitioner to have admitted another student to the seat that fell vacant consequent to the implementation of the interim order passed by this Court. Since this Court had not adjudicated a claim for liquidated damages in the said proceedings, it was found that the said interim order did not bar the complaint of the third respondent. For the above reasons, the claim of the third respondent has been allowed by the first respondent. It is aggrieved by Ext.P7 that, the petitioner is before us.