JOG EDUCATIONAL TRUST Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Mr Desai for the Petitioner says that the State Government through its Acting Educational Director, Higher Education, Maharashtra State, Pune 410 001 has quite wrongly refused permission to the Petitioner to start a law college in Pune. The facts of the matter are that the Petitioner has set up various schools and colleges in Pune. It submitted a proposal to the Government to start a new law college. This permission was granted on 31/8/2021 initially for the academic year 2021-2022.

(2.) As usual, any such venture requires three separate permissions. One is from the State Government. The other is from the Bar Council of India and the third is from the relevant University, in this case, the Savitribai Phule Pune University.

(3.) Having received permission for the academic year 2021-22, the Petitioner sought approval from the Pune University and this was granted on 21/9/2021. The Petitioner also supplied the necessary information and paid the affiliation and annual fees. There remained an approval of the Bar Council of India and although the Petitioner paid the fees to the Bar Council of India on 16/12/2021, inspection by the Bar Council of India was not done and its permission was not received until August 2022 and 26/12/2022 respectively. Thus, there was a delay. We are not finding fault of the Bar Council of India. There was, of course, the intervening COVID-19 and lockdown period. But the fact remains that the Petitioner had by December 2022, the necessary permissions for that particular Academic Year. This is when the Petitioner applied to the authorities to add its name to the Common Entrance Test ("CET") Portal list and for a login ID and password so as to participate in the admission process. The admission process for the academic year was completed on 8/12/2022, but the college could not start. The college then advertised for teaching staff and kept the Bar Council of India informed of this process until February 2023. Then, on 12/4/2023, the Petitioner submitted an application for a continuance of its approval for the current academic year 2023-24. A request letter was sent to the Additional Director, Higher Education on 4/5/2023, once again requesting enrolment in the CET Portal List, issuance of a login ID and a password and so on.