KANNAMMAL EDUCATIONAL TRUST Vs. DIRECTOR OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) At the beginning of every academic year there are a spate of writ petitions similar to these. This must make the key players here, do some introspection. Youngsters out of school, aspire to get a degree. If their goal is to get a degree from a technical institution, they knock at the doors of institutions such as the ones in these writ petitions. But the institutions can receive them only if 3 `A's are crossed. They, the courses they offer and the intended intake of students should be granted Approval by AICTE and Affiliation by Anna University ('AU' in short) and the students should be Allotted seats or Admitted by going through the Single Window Scheme ('SWS' in short) sponsored by the State. These seats are referred to as SWS Quota ('SWSQ' in short) ofcourse, the Central Counselling Seats (CCS). The institutions are entitled to admit a certain number of students independent of the SWS. We will call these seats Minority Quota (MiQ) if they are minority institutions or Management Quota (MQ) if they are non-minority institutions. Even at the outset, it may be stated that none of the three authorities, viz., the AICTE, the AU or the State has displayed even a modicum of 'awareness' that each of them holds in their hands independently the future of youngsters. It is very painful to see this.

(2.) The writ petitioners are all Educational Trusts providing technical education subject to the regulation and control of the All India Council for Technical Education ('AICTE' in short). They have all been approved of by the AICTE, but were not allowed to admit students through Central Counselling, because the AU did not grant any affiliation. The AU to whom the petitioners forwarded the lists of students that they had admitted refused to grant affiliation. Regardless of the nature of request made by each of the petitioners, the reply of AU is almost identical and the following extract is a sample.

(3.) The AICTE Act provides for the establishment of a Council for the entire country to properly plan and to develop in a coordinated manner, the technical education system and for promoting the qualitative improvement in relation to planned quantitative growth and to regulate and properly maintain the norms and standards in the technical education system and for matters connected therewith. The steps the Council may adopt to perform its functions are laid down in the Act itself.