All India Council for Technical Education Act, 1987

The All India Shri Shivaji Memorial Society (AISSMS) appealed against Bombay High Court orders that granted certain private engineering teachers a higher pay band and redesignation as Associate Professors. The teachers, appointed between 1995 and 2009, held only Master's degrees and, except for one, failed to obtain a …

The appellant, a senior lecturer in a private polytechnic, claimed that the vacant post of Principal must be filled by promotion under Rule 3(3) of the Maharashtra Employees of Private Schools (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1981. The Director of Technical Education rejected this claim, applying the Government Polytechn…

The appellant Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University declined a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to Sangam Laxmi Bai Vidyapeeth’s request to start a D.Pharmacy course, citing the State Government’s policy and a survey under Section 20 of the Telangana Education Act, 1982 showing an oversupply of pharmacy colleges in H…

The Supreme Court examined a writ petition filed by Rungta Engineering College, Bhilai and the Secretary of the GDR Educational Society challenging the Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University's refusal to grant affiliation. The University had declined affiliation on several grounds, but the All India Council…

The Association of Management of Private Colleges, whose members are colleges affiliated to Bharathidasan University and Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, filed writ petitions seeking to bar the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) from exercising jurisdiction over their MBA and MCA programmes. The High C…

Bharathidasan University, a full‑fledged university recognised under the UGC Act, began offering several technology programmes without obtaining prior approval from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). AICTE filed a writ petition seeking to restrain the university from running those courses, arguing t…

The Supreme Court considered appeals by teaching staff of P.S.G. College of Technology challenging a Madras High Court decision that the Tamil Nadu Private Colleges (Regulation) Act, 1976 and its Rules did not apply to the college. The college, a private engineering institution, had resolved that the Act and Rules were…

Private educational societies sought to establish engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh. They obtained approval from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) but were denied permission under Section 20 of the Andhra Pradesh Education Act, 1982 because the State deemed the local area already saturated. The…

The case concerned the promotion of seven teachers to the post of Principal in Chhattisgarh polytechnic colleges. Respondent No.1, a senior HOD, claimed that a Ph.D. was an essential qualification for the post under the 2010 AICTE Regulations and sought to quash the promotions, relying on a 2016 AICTE Notification that…

The Supreme Court examined whether the eligibility criteria for engineering admissions prescribed by the Visvesvaraya Technological University and the Karnataka State, which were higher than the minimum standards set by AICTE, could be relaxed when a large number of seats remained vacant. The petitioners, two students …

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) challenged several Delhi High Court orders that permitted diploma holders with only 10+1 qualifications to enroll in a one‑year bridge course leading to a B.Tech degree. AICTE argued that allowing such bridge courses constituted a major policy shift, diluted the ent…

The petitioners sought an extension of the time schedule for online counselling and admission to technical courses of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, arguing that many seats remained vacant and AICTE had not adhered to its prescribed timetable. The University had issued a notification for supplementary couns…

The Parshavanath Charitable Trust ran an engineering college that shifted to a new site in May 2008 without obtaining the No‑Objection Certificate or prior approval required under Clause 9.22 of the AICTE Handbook. Although AICTE later granted approval for the 2008‑09 and 2009‑10 academic years, the approvals expressly…

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (India) (IME) conducts bi‑annual examinations and awards a Certificate of Membership (AMIE). Historically, the Government of India recognised this certificate as equivalent to a degree or diploma for Central Government recruitment, but the High Court held it was not equivalent to…

The Jaya Gokul Educational Trust applied to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Mahatma Gandhi University for permission to establish a self‑financing engineering college. AICTE granted conditional approval after inspections and consultations, and the university listed the college for affiliation.…

The Supreme Court examined whether the Syndicate of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University could prescribe norms for granting affiliation to additional courses under Section 30(2) of the University Act, even though the university statutes were not yet in force. The Court held that the power to lay down such norms flo…

Larson & Toubro Ltd. established a polytechnic institute for the children of its employees, charging no fees and admitting students solely on merit with reservation as per government rules. After the Supreme Court's Unnikrishnan judgment, AICTE framed regulations governing admissions to technical institutions, but the …

The Supreme Court examined a series of appeals concerning the conflict between the Architects Act, 1972 and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) Act, 1987 over who has the final authority to approve and monitor architectural education institutions. The Court held that the 1972 Act, which specifically d…

The Supreme Court examined a batch of petitions challenging the approval of increased intake and second‑shift courses in pharmacy colleges approved by AICTE but rejected by the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI). The core issue was whether the Pharmacy Act, 1948 (a special statute) or the All India Council for Technical E…

The Supreme Court held that the right to education is a fundamental right flowing from Article 21, but it is limited to free education up to the age of fourteen and thereafter subject to the State’s economic capacity. The Court rejected the notion of a fundamental right to establish or obtain recognition for educationa…

The Supreme Court examined whether deemed‑to‑be universities could award engineering degrees through open‑distance learning without the approval of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). It held that AICTE is the exclusive authority to lay down norms for technical education and that the Distance Educati…