SARFARAZ ALAM Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an application praying for direction upon the respondents to issue registration numbers in their favour in respect of admission in the North Bengal Elite Pharmacy College, Uttar Dinajpur and to dispose of the representation dtd. 12/6/2024.

(2.) Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners submitted as follows. The petitioners took admission in the respondent College for pursuing Diploma in Pharmacy Course for the Session 2023-2025, after having the knowledge that the respondent college was approved by the Pharmacy Council of India and affiliated to the West Bengal State Council of Technical and Vocational Education and Skill Development. From the Report as filed by the West Bengal State Council of Technical and Vocational Education and Skill Development it transpired that on 9/1/2024 affiliation was granted in favour of the subject college and link for admission was sent on 11/1/2024. Therefore, if the respondent Council had put any objection with regard to the admission of the petitioners in the said course that might be termed as irregular not as illegal. The college submitted the respective online admission form of the petitioners with the West Bengal State Council of Technical and Vocational Education and Skill Development and respective the acknowledgement receipts were issued by the West Bengal State Council of Technical and Vocational Education and Skill Development. The petitioners also deposited the 1st instalment of their admission fees to the said course with the college and the college issued money receipts against such payments. During the course of hearing of the writ petition which was filed by the college being WPA 8860 of 2024 (North Bengal Elite Pharmacy College that the respondent College vs State of West Bengal and Ors.) it was pointed out that college could admit only 15 students in the course under reference, but at that point of time the respondent West Bengal State Council of Technical and Vocational Education and Skill Development did not raise any objection with regard to such admission. If any wrong had been committed by the college in admitting the petitioners in the course under reference, the petitioners might not suffer and moreover, semester examination also had not been commenced by the respondent Council. In the case of Rajendra Prasad Mathur vs Karnataka University and Another reported at AIR 1986 SC 1448, it was held that in a case of admission in affiliated Engineering College students not duly qualified were admitted and the facts appeared that the blame was put upon the College in respect of irregular admission and therefore, students were not to suffer for the sin of the College. The petitioners were undergoing course with necessary syllabus and they appeared in the internal examinations of the college, therefore, the claim of the petitioners for registration numbers ought not be discarded. The West Bengal State Council of Technical and Vocational Education and Skill Development conducted an inspection at the college on 16/7/2024 and during the course of inspection also the council had witnessed that petitioners were undergoing classes. In the case of Andhra Kesari Education Society vs. Director of School Education and Ors. reported at AIR 1989 SC 183 it was held that it would not be proper to drive the students to the streets if they had undergone the prescribed course with the necessary syllabi and other matters relating thereto. But, it would be for the Director of School and the Registrar, Nagarjuna University to consider and satisfy themselves and not for this Court at once to permit them to appear in the examination. This Hon'ble Court would graciously be pleased to direct the respondents to issue registration numbers in favour of the petitioners in respect of their admission in the North Bengal Elite Pharmacy College, District - Uttar Dinajpur for pursuing Diploma in Pharmacy Course for the Session 2023-2025 after validating their said admission.

(3.) Learned counsel for the West Bengal State Council of Technical and Vocational Education and Skill Development submitted as follows. No pharmacy college could admit any student without obtaining final affiliation from the appropriate authorities. Here the affiliation of North Bengal Elite College of Pharmacy was rejected for the first time on 27/12/2023 due to lack of vital infrastructure. Therefore, the College had no authority to admit any student internally prior to affiliation as they had tried to contend. There was a specific Notification of Council dtd. 19/7/2023 which clearly stipulated that unless a college got affiliation from Council, it could not admit any student. A second chance was accorded in favour of the concerned College and after further inspection of the said Pharmacy College on 8/1/2024, affiliation was granted in favour of the concerned Pharmacy College on the very next day 9/1/2024. By an Email dtd. 11/1/2024 the concerned college got admission guidelines with link and login details for admission along with the institute code. However, despite the above, no admission for D.Pharm for the academic session 2023-24 was done by college in proper manner pursuant to that. After they got affiliation, the College had to start admission following the notification for admission, wherein dates for admission were duly stipulated and following the time frames mentioned therein, the college got ample opportunity to admit students till 22/1/2024. The admission was required to be done through Council's designated online portal only. This was duly adhered to by all other bonafide Pharmacy Colleges in West Bengal. But, the North Bengal Elite Pharmacy College did not admit any student following the norms. What the college had submitted before the Hon'ble Court during hearing of WPA 8860 of 2024, did not match with the record of the Council, in as much as in the server of the council, in respect of North Bengal Elite College of Pharmacy with institute code 'NBEP' showed the available student as '0'. Now the petitioners, inter alia, prayed for issuance of registration numbers for the session 2023-2025. They alleged to have paid their online application fees and relied on certain money receipts which were appearing in of the writ petition. Those were for Rs.450.00 and appeared to have been paid in the month of January and February, 2024. Importantly, the time period for making online application for admission in Diploma in Pharmacy for the academic session 2023-24 was from 28/2/2023 to 31/3/2023 upon payment of application fees for Rs.450.00, as per the Admission Notification for making online application for the academic session 2023-24. In January or February, 2024, there was no question of making any further online application for Diploma in Pharmacy Course for the session 2023-24. Only making payment of Rs.450.00 at any time as per whims of someone did not ipso facto create any right in favour of that person to get admission at any time of the academic session or at the verge of completion of a part of a course. Whoever filled up online application in terms of the above notification, they had appeared in PHARM-2023 Entrance Examination held on 12/8/2023. These petitioners could not be said to have taken part in those processes. The procedure for taking admission in D. Pharm Course might be stated concisely in the following manner: a) Students had to apply first fill up online application for admission in Diploma in Pharmacy for the concerned academic session after the advertisement of D. Pharm admission was notified with the application fees. b) They then appeared in the common Entrance Examination as per the schedule. c) After examination rank would be published as per merit list. d) Successful or merit listed candidates could fill their choices through online counselling as per the schedule. e) After choice filling, the Council provided allotment letter against successful candidate. f) With that allotment letter student had to report to that College in a stipulated time with all the prescribed documents. g) Head of the Institution (HOI) had to verify all the documents and then validated the student in the online portal of the Council within the prescribed date as per the respective notification as successful candidate for admission and thus the students got admitted. h) Again, during the online counselling process, (strictly on the dates mentioned in the relevant notification), a window was opened to allow the institute to admit candidates (15 out of 60) in management quota through online portal. i) Even in that case also the concerned Institute had to verify the documents and complete the admission process in the portal. Thereafter the admission process got completed. j) After that the Council would publish the notification for registration and students had to register themselves through council's Portal which had to validate again by the HOI. After the successful payments of registration fees the name would reflect in the Portal at the Institution end. In the present case nothing was complied with. Herein the petitioners had prayed for registration but registration could be done in respect of any student who got admitted in the respective college (only through online portal of the Council). However, in the present case as stated hereinabove there was no admitted student in Council's portal with the instant college namely, 'North Bengal Elite College of Pharmacy'. All other pharmacy colleges who successfully admitted students following the notification dtd. 4/1/2024, their names were duly appearing in the portal college wise. Accordingly in the month of February those students who had been admitted online through Council's Portal appropriately were allowed to complete their online registration in the portal. Notification for registration was published in Council's portal on 9/2/2024. It was emphatically denied that the Council had issued any link to the concerned College for the 'DVOC' Course. The college had adopted illegal method in admitting students with a malafide intention that subsequently they would take plea of error and rectification. Forms which were relied on were improper. The Acknowledgment Receipts which were relied on by the petitioners were not for the D. Pharm Course for the academic session 2023- 24. All those Acknowledgment Receipts were of DVOC' course for the session 2024-25. The college had got no authority to admit any student prior to the date of it's affiliation. The admission forms appearing at pages 18 to 47 were all incomplete. Pages 18 to 45 bore no form number and dates and page 45 bore no admission number. Most of the money receipts which were shown in the writ petition are of October, 2023, when the College got no authority under the law to admit students. Even on 27/12/2023 the grant of affiliation of the said College got rejected. The document appearing at page 64 of the writ petition with date 7/10/2024 which had not yet come. There had been no inadvertence on the part of the West Bengal State Council of Technical & Vocational Education and Skill Development in the generation of any kind of acknowledgement receipts for DVOC course, that too for the session 2024-25 in favour of the petitioners. Acknowledgment receipts were system-generated in relation to the courses for which applications were filed. After the admission and registration process of the D.Pharm course for the academic session 2023- 24 got exhausted, the portal of the same was closed. The students of the concerned Institution had entered in the DVOC link at their own instance and filled in the application for DVOC purportedly and it was for that reason only they got the acknowledgement receipts for DVOC course for the session 2024-25. At that time Online Application for DVOC 2024-25 was going on. Registration came only after valid/proper admission but here no one from the concerned College had taken any valid admission for the D. Pharm Course for the session 2023-24 with the Council. It was stated before the Hon'ble Court that an enquiry was conducted at the College and it was found that the college was not being run properly and violation in several aspects were detected. As the concerned college failed to admit students within the stipulated time and in the portal any access for admission or any sort of entry towards D. Pharm Course was in fact closed after expiry of the said prescribed time, the petitioners out of their own volition deliberately, purportedly entered their names with the 'DVOC' course for the session 2024-25. The money receipts shown in the writ application through 'SBIEPAY' could not be said to be admission fee. Only payment of online application fee after expiry nearly one year from the prescribed time could not give any right to a person to get admission or registration, particularly when the entire session was about to expire. Following the proper mechanism when any valid admission in D. Pharm Course for the academic session 2023-24 was done, the payment for the D.Pharm admission was accepted through 'Axis Bank Razorpay' payment link only and so was done by all the students of D. Pharma in respect of the respective Colleges in all over West Bengal. The fact remains that the petitioners were not the students of D. Pharm under the West Bengal State Council of Technical & Vocational Education and Skill Development as none of them were legally admitted students under the Council. Admission of Management quota for the concerned session was available from 2/1/2024 to 22/1/2024, which could be completed only after successful payment of proper admission fee.