D. BHOOBALASAMY Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) W.P.No.11426/2013 -The petitioner has filed this writ petition as a Public Interest Litigation in the interest of the general public, more particularly the students community who wish to join engineering colleges in the State of Tamil Nadu. The petitioner, though filed this writ petition as a Public Interest Litigation, has stated that his daughter has completed her higher secondary education in the academic year 2013-2014 and is competing for admission to engineering colleges in the State of Tamil Nadu through the respondents herein and came across severe anomalies in the process, which are being highlighted in the writ petition. Be that as it may, the points urged by the petitioner herein are having importance from the view point of students who are applying for engineering admission to the Government Colleges, Government Aided Colleges and Self-Financing Colleges and therefore, it is treated as a Public Interest Litigation.

(2.) The petitioner would state that in this State, as on 2012, there are 521 engineering colleges and of these colleges, 29 colleges are coming under the Government and Government Aided group while the remaining colleges are self-financing engineering colleges and the approval for starting engineering colleges is governed by the provisions of the All India Council for Technical Education Act, 1987 (Central Act No.52 of 1987) [in short 'AICTE Act'] and the rules and regulations framed under the said Act. The State Government also plays an important role in the approval process and so also the University to which the colleges seek affiliation.

(3.) According to the petitioner, most of the engineering colleges do not match the standards as set out under the AICTE Act and the rules and regulations framed under the said Act and the employability of the graduates who are coming out of the said colleges is very poor as the standard of education provided by them is also abysmal. It is further stated by the petitioner that in this State every year about 6 lakhs to 8 lakhs students appear in the Higher Secondary Examinations in all branches and at an average, about 2.5 lakhs students apply for admission in engineering courses and 60% of the students are hailing from rural and semi urban areas and therefore, they are not certainly aware of the factual scenario of each of the colleges and further that they are hailing from middle class and lower income group and most of them studied in Tamil Medium and hence, it is essential that relevant particulars relating to each and every colleges have to be furnished to the students, especially to those who are hailing from rural and semi-urban areas. The petitioner has also invited the attention of this Court to the list of 151 institutions in this State which are having similar names and it is also adding confusion to the students who are seeking admission in those engineering colleges. The petitioner would further state that the University which is having the details of each and every college can provide pass percentage of students in each semester for all the branches in those engineering colleges, enabling the students to assess the performance of the college in which they want to join and continue their education.