ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ADMINISTRATION Vs. PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The writ application challenges a letter dtd. 19/7/2019 and all consequential directions there under as well as the letter dtd. 7/11/2019 insofar as the conditions imposed therein are concerned directing the respondent authorities to grant affiliation to DBRAIT forthwith from the academic year 2019-20 without any condition/fetters.

(2.) Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners submitted as follows. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Institute of Technology ('DBRAIT', for short) is the only engineering college in the whole of the Andaman and Nicobor Islands and is run by the Andaman and Nicobor Administration. A Government Polytechnic was established in 1984 with three branches and was affiliated to the Board of Technical Education, New Delhi and was later renamed as DBRAIT. In 1989 a 2nd Government Polytechnic was established with certain other courses. The same was affiliated to the Board of Technical Education, New Delhi. In 2000-2001, both DBRAIT and the 2nd Government Polytechnic were included in Technical Education - III Project of the MHRD and were funded by the World Bank. Academic Autonomy was one of the main components of the Technical Education-III Project. All the project States/Union Territories had signed a tripartite agreement to implement the project. Since there was no Board of Technical Education in the Andamans for controlled academic autonomy, academic consultant under Technical Education- III Project NITTR, Chennai, a unit under Ministry of Education, Government of India was contracted to obtain names of Boards. As there was no response from the Board of Technical Education, New Delhi, the Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education and the Directorate of Technical Education, Gujarat were the only Boards offering Controlled Academic Autonomy. Accordingly, the Administration upon intimation to the MHRD, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the said Board. From the academic year 2003-2004, the affiliation for all diploma programme offered by both the Polytechnics was shifted to the said Board. Thereafter, the MoU was extended three times and the present MoU was valid till the academic session 2022-23. In 2009, consequent to an order of the High Court in April and with the approval of the Planning Commission, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Human Resource and Development, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Government Polytechnic was upgraded as an Engineering College to offer both degree and diploma programmes. By a Notification dtd. 12/7/2010 of the Administration, both the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Government Polytechnic and the 2nd Government Polytechnic were merged with upgradation to Engineering college renamed as Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Institute of Technology ('DBRAIT' for short) with approval of AICTE and on the affiliation of Pondicherry University, three BTech Engineering programmes were offered by DBRAIT from 2009 onwards. The students who had completed diploma from DBRAIT under affiliation to the Maharashtra Board were admitted in the lateral entry format from the year 2010 and were recognised by the Pondicherry University from 2012-13 till 2019-20. The Administration has also been sending students for lateral entry programme for engineering to Mainland Engineering Colleges. Furthermore, based on request of DBRAIT for conducting lateral entry exams for BTech Programme, vide letter dtd. 5/7/2021, the Controller of examination, Pondicherry University, vide a letter dtd. 14/7/2021 informed the Institution that due to issuance of conditional affiliation for academic year 2020-21 to the said college it was proposed to conduct III Semester examination to the lateral entry students along with IV Semester examinations to be conducted subsequently. However, in a complete turnaround, the Controller of examinations, Pondicherry University vide letter dtd. 19/7/2021 informed the Institution that the decision taken on the request for III Semester examinations for the lateral entry students would only be applicable if the college fulfilled all conditions laid down in the conditional provisional affiliation order issued by the Registrar. For 2020-21, when the MSBTE diploma passed out of DBRAIT, while the prayer for conducting the 3rd and 4th Semester exams of lateral entry students was rejected, MSBTE diploma passed out students of DBRAIT were admitted to bachelor of Computer offered by JNRM, Port Blair under the affiliation of Pondicherry University. The University adopted discriminating approach and thus put the career of students in peril. Furthermore, all these years, the Pondicherry University had never raised such an affiliation issue of DBRAIT with MSBTE. The Pondicherry University under the impugned letter dtd. 25/10/2021 rejected the request for conducting 3rd and 4th Semester exams of the lateral entry students on the following grounds. The University nominee in the 9th meeting of the Board of Governors pointed out that in the MSBTE Website, the diploma of DBRAIT was indicated as non affiliated. That the affiliation of DBRAIT was through an MoU was not reflected. The Inspection Committee, after its inspection of DBRAIT, submitted a report on 5/10/2020 and recommended that no lateral entry admission should be allowed as the Polytechnic courses were not affiliated to MSBTE (and only an MoU existed). The Administration communicated to the Pondicherry University that since Maharashtra Board of Technical Education made necessary correction in their portal, the issue of affiliation was irrelevant. In absence of any legally sustainable reply, the conditional/provisional affiliation was granted for academic year 2020-21. A further issue was raised regarding validity of affiliation certificate issued by the Maharashtra State Board. However, the points raised by the Pondicherry University were not sustainable. By an order dtd. 16/9/2020 passed by this Court in CAN No. 1 of 2020, the Pondicherry University was directed to grant provisional affiliation for the academic session 2020-21 with liberty to cause inspection of DBRAIT by Pondicherry University. After grant of conditional affiliation for the academic session 2020-21, the rejection in respect of lateral entry students admitted in the same session could not be sustained. The decision of the PU to stop the examinations for the lateral entry students was only an attempt to undermine the DBRAIT. Unless the writ application is allowed, the same shall cause irreparable hardship for lateral entry students for the academic session 2020-21. They would be left in the lurch due to the subsequent rejection of their case by the Pondicherry University.

(3.) Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondents/Pondicherry University submitted as follows. Prior to the issuance of the impugned letters, an Inspection Committee constituted by the University was informed during its earlier visits that the proposal for separation of degree and diploma programme offered by DBRAIT was approved in particular by the Lieutenant Governor and the matter was pending with the Ministry of Home Affairs. But, the petitioner no. 3, in his reply to the letter dtd. 27/2/2019, did not make any mention of it. Rather, a contrary stand was taken in the writ application that DBRAIT was developed as per SLIET and NERIST Governance Mode. By its letter dtd. 6/5/2019, the University communicated the recommendation of the Inspection Committee for continuation of affiliation for 2019-20 subject to fulfilment of the conditions mentioned therein and with a further rider that admission for 2019-20 should not be made without the approval of the University. But the Principal, DBRAIT, without approval of the University, completed the admission process by 18/7/2019. Some of the shortcomings observed, as communicated by a letter dtd. 6/5/2019 and again reiterated by the University in the letter dtd. 7/11/2019, were with regard to faculty, equipments, library books, journal and sports facility etc. Another important deficiency was a failure to maintain Professor: Associate Professor: Assistant Professor in 1:2:6 but should not be 0:8:1 or 0:6:3 or 0:7:2. This meant that there must be at least one Professor in each department, separate principals for Engineering College and minimum appointment for Professor and Associate Professor in the three departments as per AICTE norms. Till date, even the post of Professor or Principal was not created in DBRAIT and no deficiency pointed out had been rectified. The Inspection Committee of the University visited DBRAIT on 5/11/2020 and submitted its report to the University and one of its recommendations was that no lateral entry admission was allowed as the polytechnic courses were not affiliated to MSBTE and only an MoU existed. In fact, the petitioners suppressed several material facts. There was no question of grant of affiliation without conditions/fetters. On this, reliance was placed on A.P. Christians Medical Educational Society Vs. Government of Andhra Pradesh and Ors., (1986) 2 SCC 667 . Secondly, the petitioners failed to comply with the conditions for such affiliation. Lastly, the petitioners were not coming with clean hands to seek relief before this Court.