WA/2076/2004 of St. Marys College of Engineering and Technology, Vs The All India Council for Technical Education, on 28 December 2004

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD

TUESDAY, THE TWENTY EIGHTH DAY OF DECEMBERTWO THOUSAND AND FOUR

PRESENT

THE HON'BLE SRI DEVINDER GUPTA,THE CHIEF JUSTICE

and THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE M.NARAYANA REDDY

WRIT APPEAL NO : 2076 of 2004

(Writ Appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent against the Order dated08/11/2004 in WP NO : 15349 OF 2004 on the file of the High Court.)

Between:

St. Mary's College of Engineering and Technology, DeshmukhiVillage,Pochampally Mandal, Nalgonda District, Rep. by its Secretary-cum-Correspondent Rev. K.V.K. Rao.

..... APPELLANT

AND

1 The All India Council for Technical Education, Indira Gandhi Sports Complex,

I.P. Estate, New Delhi, rep. by its Member Secretary.

2 Prof. R. Natarajan,

All India Council for Technical Education, Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, I.P.

Estate, New Delhi.

3 The Station House Officer, Police Station, Alwal (Halia), Nalgonda.

4 The Station House Officer, Bodhan Pochampally Police Station, Nalgonda District.

.....RESPONDENT(S)

Counsel for the Appellant:MR.S.SRI RAM

Counsel for the Respondent Nos. 1 and 2: Mr. S. Satyanarayana PrasadCounsel for the Respndents 3 and 4: GP FOR HOME

The Court made the following Oral Judgment: (per Sri Devinder Gupta, CJ)

Challenge by the appellant in this appeal is against the order passed by thelearned single judge dismissing its writ petition. Appellant had filed writ petitionquestioning the issuance of show cause notice by the respondents seeking to placethe appellant under ‘No Admission Category’ for the current academic year 2004-2005 pursuant to the advice of the High Power Committee on prevention ofMalpractices in Technical Institutions. The said Committee had recommended thatF.D.R. was created for only Rs.50,000/- as against the requirement of Rs.50,00,000/-and the appellant herein may be asked to modify the FDR as per the requirementwithin four weeks and that the appellant be restrained from making admission for thecurrent academic year 2004-2005. Allegations of mala fide were also attributed tothe 2[nd] respondent.

Learned single judge at the admission stage observed that he was not inclinedprima facie, to come to the conclusion that the allegations of mala fide attributedagainst the 2[nd] respondent were true. Moreover, as of today, 2[nd] respondent hassince retired. As regards admissions, the learned single judge noticed thatadmissions in Andhra Pradesh to Engineering Colleges were almost completed onthe date when show cause notice dated 28.7.2004 was issued. Learned singlejudge also noticed the stand of the learned Standing Counsel for AICTE that there isno decision restraining the appellant had been taken as such by the ExecutiveCouncil of AICTE. Without saying anything as regards furnishing the F.D.R. for thebalance amount as against the modified F.D.R. submitted by the Appellant, learnedsingle judge dismissed the writ petition on the ground that it had been filed in great haste without waiting for the decision of the AICTE, leaving it open to the ExecutiveCouncil to consider the request/representation of the appellant by taking note of allevents subsequent to the constitution of the High Power Committee and to takeappropriate decision thereon as per Law. The order is under challenge. We haveheard learned counsel for the parties.

In the additional counter affidavit filed on behalf of the respondents 1 and 2 on7.11.2004, as regards the modified F.D.R., it was pointed that the amountrepresenting the F.D.R. should be deposited in a joint account of the Institution andof the AICTE. An official of the AICTE should be co-signatory to such account anddeposit, and only such deposit in such account and the F.D.R. raised in the jointname of the Institution and the AICTE can be accepted and for that reason, themodified F.D.R. sent by the appellant along with the reply to show cause notice wasnot acceptable.

Reply to show cause notice has already been submitted by the Appellant. Therefore,considering the facts and circumstances, we dispose of the appeal with directionthat within a period of one week from today on the appellant’s official approachingthe 1[st] respondent, appropriate instructions will be issued naming the official ofAICTE and within a period of one week thereafter, the concerned official of AICTEwill put his signatures on the requisite forms for joint account for the FDR amount ofRs. 64,00,500/-. Within a week of the concerned official of the respondent signingthe requisite form for joint account, the appellant will submit the modified F.D.R. withthe Southern Regional Office of AICTE, Chennai. As regards the admissions, sincethe same were over, no further interference with the admission process will be madepursuant to the show cause notice impugned in the writ petition.

It would be however open for the Executive Council of the AICTE to duly considerthe reply/representation of the appellant and pass appropriate orders thereupon andconvey the same to the appellant.

In any case, the appellant would feel aggrieved against the order to bepassed by the Executive Council of the AICTE, it would be open for it to challengethe same in accordance with law. The observations made by the learned singlejudge in the impugned order will not come in the way of the Executive Council of theAICTE in coming to its own decision.

The writ appeal is accordingly disposed of. No costs.

______________________

DEVINDER GUPTA, CJ

Date: 28[th] December, 2004

Note: Furnish c.c. within two days

B/o

pnb

_______________________

M. NARAYANA REDDY,J

To

1 The All India Council for Technical Education, Indira Gandhi SportsComplex, I.P. Estate, New Delhi, rep. by its Member Secretary.

2 Prof. R. Natarajan, All India Council for Technical Education, Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, I.P. Estate, New Delhi.3 The Station House Officer, Police Station, Alwal (Halia), Nalgonda.4 The Station House Officer, Bodhan Pochampally Police Station, Nalgonda District.

5 Two C.Cs. to Government Pleader for Home, High Court Buildings, Hyderabad. (OUT)

6 Two C.D. copies