WEST BENGAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Vs. RISHIN MITRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The principal question that arises in these eight appeals is whether an unaided private engineering college in this State can directly admit aspiring engineers in seats other than those reserved under the management quota. Notwithstanding the writ petitioners in each case being students who have been refused registration, the real dispute is between the West Bengal University of Technology and the unaided private engineering colleges in the State.

(2.) The University is in appeal in the first five matters from interim orders permitting the writ petitioner students to provisionally take their University examinations at he end of the first semester. In the three other matters, the students are in appeal against the refusal of a similar order as in the first five cases on the ground of delay on their part. Counsel for all parties had agreed at the ad- interim stage of the appeals that since the matters were of some importance and of the moment, the writ petitions could be taken up by this appellate Court and disposed of. Accordingly, affidavits were called for and this judgment and order will dispose of all eight appeals and the writ petitions in which the appeals arise.

(3.) The problem arises in this nascent stage of a procedure that has been put in place by the Supreme Court for admission to institutions awarding professional degrees. The eleven-Judge Constitution Bench in T.M.A. Pai Foundation v. State of Karnataka, reported at (2002) 8 SCC 481 : (AIR 2003 SC 355) considered eleven questions, one of them being as to whether in case of private educational institutions (unaided and aided) there could be government regulations, and, if so, to what extent. The majority view in respect of the relevant matter was that for admission into any professional institution merit must play an important role. The majority opinion was that judging of the merits of applicants for admission to specialised institutions to become competent professionals had to be rationalised so that meritorious candidates were to unfairly treated or put at a disadvantage by preference shown to the less meritorious but more influential applicants. The majority judgment directed appropriate regulations in such regard being made and observed that merit is usually determined, for admission to professional and higher educational colleges, by either the marks that the student obtains at the qualifying examination or school leaving certificate stage followed by the interview, or by a common entrance test conducted by the institution, or in the case of professional colleges by Government agencies (paragraphs 58, 59 and 61 of the report).