I.I.T.T. COLLEGE OF ENGINEERINGversusSTATE OF H.P. AND ORS.

A                     1.1.T.T. COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
                                      v.
                            STATE OF H.P. AND ORS.

                                 AUGUST 8, 2003

B       [K.G. BALAKRISHNAN AND P. VENKATARAMA REDDI, JJ.]


          Constitution ofIndia, I950-Articles I9(l)(g) and 226-Unaided private
    Educatidnal Institution-Establishment of~anction for intake ofstudents and
C   approval for additional course of Information Technology-Students seeking
    admission-Affiliation suspended-Deficiencies in management and
    administration-Writ Petition-High Court directing private management of
    the college to be taken over by court appointed official-Justification of-
    Held: High Court exceeded its jurisdiction in issuing such direction since it
    is against the principle ofautonomy in regard to administration, thus direction
D   set aside-Management and a1ministration to be restored to the college
    however, administrator appointed pursuant to the directions ofthe High Court
    to oversee the running of the institution-Educational Institutions.

          Appellant-Engineering College obtained permission from All India
E Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and 'no objection' certificate
    from the University and started engineering courses. This permission was
    extended time to time. However, AICTE did not grant approval for
    Information Technology course. Later on it granted its approval and
    appellant-college admitted the students. However, the University refused
    to grant its approval and affiliation for the I.T. Course. AICTE thereafter
F   withdrew the permission for starting I.T. course since the college had not
    made any attempt to provide proper infrastructure for this course.
    Registrar of the University also advised the appellant-college to delete the
    IT course from the prospectus. Appellant then filed a Writ Petition. High
    Court stayed the order deleting the seats in IT Course. University did not
G   allow the students to appear in the first semester examination in the
    absence of affiliation from the University. Appellant..,College then filed ari
    application for affiliation for the course of IT which was rejected. AICTE
    then accorded approval for the academic year 2001-2002 for all the courses
    including IT which was withdrawn earlier, subject to the fulfillment of
    conditions. However, the University suspended the affiliation granted to
H                                        348
               I.I.T.T. COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING v. STATE                  349
the college initially and directed the College Management not to make           A
fresh admissions, from the session 2001-2002. Meanwhile, students of IT
course filed writ petition seeking directions to accord affiliation and a
direction that management and administration of the college should be
taken over by an official-cum-administrator. High Court issued directions
for appointment of an Administrator for management and better
administration of the college and for initiating steps for affiliation. Hence   B
the present appeal. Inspection team of AICTE and the team headed by
the Director, IIT submitted inspection reports.

      Appellant contended that the direction of the High Court appointing
an Administrator and taking over the management is without authority C
of law and even· opposed to the concept of autonomy of private unaided
colleges; and that the High Court clearly exceeded its jurisdiction under·
Article 226 of the Constitution.

     Disposing of the appeal, the Court
                                                                                D
      HELD: 1.1. The obligation to make up the deficiencies and to prove
the general academic atmosphere lay on the shoulders of the College
Management, but unfortunately, no positive steps were taken.
Undoubtedly, there was discontentment amongst the students and the
teachers. The latest report of the team constituted under the orders of this
Court as well as the report of AICTE furnished to the High Court and            E
the earlier report of the University inspection team unmistakably indicate
that there were deficiencies in many respects, especially in regard to IT
course and all was not well with the functioning of the college.
                                                         [355-H; 356-A-C]

      1.2. High Court, taking stock of this factual situation and in order      F
to ensure better administration and management, thought it fit to appoint
an Administrator. There seems to be good deal of improvement after the
Administrator took over. However, the High Court apparently did not
realize that there was no provision under which the management of an
unaided private college could be taken over by the Administrator. None          G
of the counsel was able to point out any provision either under the AICTE
Act or the HP Education Act or University Act permitting the authorities
to take over the management of the institution. However laudable the
objective behind the steps taken by the High Court, it cannot be justified
under law. The imposition of an Administrator to take over the reins of
administration for an indefinite point of time would undoubtedly amount         H
                                                                                    \,

                                                                                    l
    350                     SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A to interference with the right of administering and managing a private
    educational institution which is now recognized to be a part of the
    fundamental right under Article 19(1)(g). It would go against the principle
    of autonomy in regard to administration. Hence, the jurisdiction under
    Article 226 could not have been exercised by the High Court to oust the
B   private management and transfer the management to a Court-appointed
    official. (356-C-EJ

           1.3. Directions to check mal-administration in conformity with the
    provisions of relevant statutes is one thing and deprivation of management
    to the private body which established the institution is another thing. The
C   latter should not have been resorted to without authority of law. Therefore,
    the order of the High Court appointing the Administrator to manage the
    affairs of the college is set aside. The management and administration of
    the college shall be restored to the appellant within a month. However, to
    protect the interests of the students and to have a check against mal-
    administration, the present nominee of the Administrator, will oversee the
D   running of the institution and give necessary instructions to the
    Management. (356-F, G; 357-E)                ·

         T.MA. Pai Foundation v. State of Karnataka, (2002) 8 SCC 481 and
    Jaya Gokul Educational Trust v. Commissioner & Secretary to Government
E   Higher Education, (2000) 5 sec 231, referred to.

          CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 4167 of 2003.

         From the·Judgment and Order dated 7.9.2001 of the Himachal Pradesh
    High Court in C.W.P. No. 24 of 2001.
F          A.M. Singhvi, B.K. Sinha, A. Bhandari, Manoj Kumar, B.K. Satija, J.S.
    Attri, C. Badri Nath 'Babu, Bimal Roy Jad, Mariinder Singh, Mrs. P.M. Singh,
    Ankur Talwar and Kriti Maan Singh for the Appearing parties.

          The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
G
          K.G. BALAKRISHNAN, ~'· Leave granted.

          Heard the learned counsel for the appellant and respondents 1 to 4.

          This appeal is preferred by I.I.T.T. College of Engineering represented
H through its Officiating Chairman. The Engineering College was started by a
    Society, by name, International Institute of Telecom Technology Society,
    1.1.T.T. COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING v. STATE [BALAKRISHNAN, J.] 351

Kala Amb, registered under the Societies Registration Act. The Society A
established the Engineering College at Sirmaur District in the State ofHimachal
Pradesh after obtaining initial permission from All lnqia Council for Technical
Education (for short AICTE) in 1997 and 'no objection' certificate from the
University and started four year degree courses in Electrical Engineering,
Electronics & Communication Engineering and Computer Science &
Engineering, with a maximum intake of 40 students in each discipline. The B
College sought permission to start a Degree course in Information Technology
and extension of approval for the session 1998-99. For this purpose, an
expert Team of AICTE visited the institution on 28.3.1998. AICTE extended
its approval on 31. 7.1998 for the academic session 1998-99 with an intake
of 140 students. The AICTE (4th respondent herein), however, did not accord C
its approval to the additional courses in Information Technology and
Electronics and Instrumentation for the session 1998-99. The college again
applied for extension of approval for the session 1999-2000 with a request
for increasing intake and starting additional courses. The Expert Committee
visited the institution on 16.2.1999 and recommended Information Technology
as additional course with intake of 40. After considering the said report, the D
AICTE had accorded approval through its communication dated 27. 7.1999
for the intake of 200 students including 40 in the additional course of
Information Technology subject to fulfillment of norms and the conditions
stipulated by the Council. However, the H.P. University, which had also sent
its team for inspection in April, 1999, declined to grant its approval and E
affiliation for the I.T. Course. The University had also issued a press note on
12.8.1999 warning the students seeking admission to the said course. However,
the students were admitted by the appellant-college on the basis of the approval
granted by AICTE.

      The question of extension of approval for the session 2000-2001 was F
again considered by AICTE in the light of the inspection reports of the
Expert Committee. The AICTE, by its letter dated 24.7.2000, communicated
the extension of approval with reduced intake of 160 subject to the conditions
specified in Annexure-I. No approval was given for the Information
Technology Course. In Annexure-1 to the said letter, it was made clear that G
the permission for starting l.T. was withdrawn since the college had not made
any attempt to provide proper infrastructure for this course. Moreover, the
College Management was warned that the admissions to the existing three
courses will be stopped from the next year if the deficiencies pointed out
therein continued. By its communication dated 17.7.2000, the Registrar of
the University advised the appellant-college to delete the IT course from the H
    352                      SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A Prospectus for the academic session 2000-2001 and to issue a public notice
    to that effect. Faced with these two adverse communications from AICTE
    and University, the appellant filed a Writ Petition (C.W.P. No. 4104 of2000)
     in Delhi High Court. The High Court stayed that part of the order dated
    24.7.2000 deleting the seats in IT Course. The University by its letter dated
B    1.12.2000 informed the appellant-college that the admission/examination forms
    sent by the college for holding the first semester examination in l.T. were
    returned. The University made it clear by its further communication dated
    4.12.2000 that no student who was admitted to LT. course shall be allowed
    to appear in the first semester examination in the absence of affiliation from
    the University. At this stage, it appears that the college had submitted an
C   application for grant of affiliation for the course of l.T. on l l.12.2000.
    However, the application was returned by the University as it did not fulfill
    the necessary requirements. The appellant then challenged the decision of the
    University by filing CWP No. 956 of 2000 in Himachal Pradesh High Court.
    The same was dismissed as withdrawn on 4.1.2001. While so, on 27.3.2001,
    the Division Bench of High Court of Delhi, while admitting LPA No. 461 of
D   2000 filed by the State of Himachal Pradesh and H.P. University against the
    interim order granted on 28.7.2000, permitted the admitted l.T. students to
    take the examination while making it clear that no special equity will be
    created in their favour and it will be subject to the ultimate decision. The
    S.L.P. filed by the State against that order was dismissed. Surprisingly, the.
E   AICTE by its communication dated 14.6.2001, accorded approval for the
    academic year 2001-2002 for all the courses including IT which was withdrawn
    earlier, subject to the fulfillment of three conditions regarding library, physics
    and chemistry lab and senior faculty. However, the University suspended the
    affiliation granted to the college initially and directed the College Management
    not to make fresh admissions from the session 2001-2002.
F
            In the meanwhile, five students of the Information Technology course
    filed Writ Petition No. 24 of 200 l in Himachal Pradesh High Court out of
    which the present appeal arises. Inter alia, they sought for directions to accord
    affiliation, to direct AICTE to take appropriate steps to safeguard interests of
    the students and to direct the College Management to comply with the
G   directions issued by the University and AICTE. A prayer was also made that
    till the College Management takes steps to comply with the directions of the
    concerned authorities, the management and administration of the college should
    be taken over by a senior official-cum-administrator who shall also conduct
    an inquiry against the management of the college.
H
     I.I.T.T. COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING v. STATE [BALAKRISHNAN, J.) 353

       The High Court took the view that the approval by AICTE does not               A
result in automatic affiliation by the university and the affiliation fell within
the exclusive power of the university. As there was no affiliation or approval
from the University to run the IT course, the action of the University authorities
in not allowing the IT students to appear for the examination cannot be
faulted. The High Court, based on the report given by the AICTE on the basis
of inspection conducted on 16.8.2001 i.e., during the pendency of the writ            B
petition, observed that the College did not possess the minimum required
infrastructure as per the norms of AICTE and the college failed to comply
with the conditions subject to which the approval was accorded by AICTE.
The High Court also referred to the affidavit filed by the Member Secretary-
cum-Officiating Chairman of AICTE, in which he stated that the college                C
lacked basic infrastructure not only for the course of IT, but also other courses.
He further stated that the Council had decided to keep the admission of fresh
batch of students for the session 2001-2002 in abeyance. The High Court
then observed: "The Member-Secretary probably realiz~d albeit belatedly,
that the stand taken on behalf of AICTE earlier was not befitting a responsible
Council. He, therefore, tried to be rather objective and frankly admitted that        D
the grievance of the State Authorities and University had substance."

      Having commented adversely on the manner in which the college was
being run and the litigative zeal of the College Management, the High Court
considered it just and proper to issue certain directions in the interests of the     E
student community and for better administration. The substance of directions
are as follows:

        1.   The AICTE should take an appropriate decision keeping in view
             the statutory provisions and various communications and reports
             forming part of the record.                                              F
       2.    Director of Technical Education, Vocational and Industrial
             Training, Himachal Pradesh should act as Administrator for the
             college and temporarily takeover the management and
             administration of the college and initiate steps for obtaining
             affiliation/extension of affiliation from the University for IT course   G
             of B.Tech.

       3.    He shall also comply with the relevant rules and regulations and
             do everything necessary to safeguard the future of the petitioners
             and other students. In particular, the Administrator in collaboration
             with respondent Nos. l -4 shou Id take necessary steps to ensure         H
    354                      SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A                that the students in IT, if otherwise eligible, should be adjusted
                 in other Engineering colleges. Thus, the writ petition was partly
                 allowed with heavy costs.

          Pursuant to this order, the Director of Technical Education nominated
    the Joint Director of Technical Education to look after the affairs of the
B   college. The said official is now functioning under the overall control of the
    Administrator. The entire management and control is now with the
    Administrator. Steps were taken to see that the students of IT course were
    allocated seats in other colleges in adjoining States. The IT course has been
    discontinued at present.

c          The counter affidavit filed by the Additional Secretary (TE) gives an
    elaborate account of various steps taken by the Administrator to set right the
    mat-administration, the improvement of facilities and service conditions of
    staff and the refund of security deposit amount to a substantial extent. It is
    also stated that some of the deficiencies pointed out by the ·Committee
D   constituted under the directions of this Court have been rectified and in due
    course of time, other steps will also be taken in the light of the financial
    position. It is also averred in the counter affidavit that because of various
    improvements made by the Administrator, AICTE and H.P. University gave
    approval for the year 2002-2003 to run the courses (other than IT). For
    granting approval for the ensuing year, the AICTE team already inspected
E   the college.

           The inspection committee constituted as per the interim order of this
    Court focused its attention on seven aspects, namely, space, laboratories,
    staff, library, facilities like hostel, games etc., interaction with students and
F   financial discipline. The committee commented that the infrastructure,
    laboratories and equipment were deficient in many respects and the salary
    and other conditions of service were not satisfactory. However, the committee
    reported certain improvements and works in progress after the takeover of
    the management by Administrator. In the course of interaction with students,
    it was noticed that there was marked positive change in many respects and
G   hostel life was more satisfying and secure.

           The learned senior counsel appearing for the petitioner was strident in
    his criticism of the reports furnished by the inspection team of AICTE during
    the pendency of the writ petition and the latest inspection report submitted by
    a committee headed by Director, IIT during the pendency of this SLP. It is
H   his contention that the former report and the volte face adopted by AICTE
    1.1.T.T.COLLEGEOFENGINEERINGv. STATE[BALAKRISHNAN, J.) 355

 I in its subsequent affidavit in the High Court was the result of unwarranted     A
intervention by the High Court and that the inspection was slipshod lasting
only for a few minutes. It is submitted that the material facts noted in the two
inspection reports are opposed to the ground realities and the approach was
not fair. Certain photographs were produced in support of his contention. It
is pointed out that the previous reports of AICTE were not referred to by the      B
two inspection teams and there was no specific reference to the 'norms of
AICTE' which are not satisfied. The learned counsel repeatedly emphasized
that the infrastructural facilities and the establishment the appellant has, are
far superior to many other colleges for which the affiliation/approval was
granted and if reasonable time was granted, the defects could have been
rectified. The learned senior counsel also made it clear that at present the       C
appellant is not interested in starting the IT course having regard to various
developments that have taken place and it would make a fresh approach to
the AICTE and University as and when it intends to restart the course. Above
all, the learned counsel submitted that the direction of the High Court
appointing an Administrator and taking over the management is without
authority of law and even opposed to the concept of autonomy of private            P
unaided colleges stressed by the larger Bench of this Court in T.MA. Pai
Foundation v. State of Karnataka, [2002] 8 SCC Page 481. He drew our
attention in particular to paragraphs 50, 53, 55 & 68. Reliance has also been
placed on the dicta laid down in Jaya Gokul Educational Trust v.
Commissioner & Secretary to Government Higher Education Department,                E
[2000] 5 SCC 231 at para 28. The learned counsel finally submitted that the
High Court clearly exceeded its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the
Constitution.

      It is not possible for us to discredit the two inspection reports-one by
the AICTE and the other by the team headed by the Director, IIT. No doubt          F
there is an apparent variation between the observations made in these two
reports and the earlier reports of AICTE, as well as the report of CSIO which
was prepared at the instance of the appellant. In fact, this Court directed
constitution of an independent team of experts when it was brought to the
notice of the Court that there were conflicting reports. Such report ~hould be     G
given its due weight. Even though some of the comments, especially with
regard to the buildings, are too widely made and even if there are some
inaccuracies here and there as pointed out by the learned counsel for the
appellant, the report cannot be simply ignored. Even if basic infrastructure in
the form of buildings and land is available, that is not all. The latest report
of the team constituted under the orders of this Court as well as the report       H
    356                     SUPREME COURT REPORTS {2003] SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A of AICTE furnished to the High Court and the earlier report of the University
    inspection team unmistakably indicate that there were deficiencies in many
    respects, especially in regard to IT course and all was not well with the
    functioning of the college. However, there seems to be good deal of
    improvement after the Administrator took over. The obligation to make up
B   the deficiencies and to improve the general academic atmosphere lay on the
    shoulders of the College Management, but unfortunately, no positive steps
    were taken. Undoubtedly, there was discontentment amongst the students and
    the teachers. The High Court, taking stock of this factual situation and in
    order to ensure better administration and management, thought it fit to appoint
    an Administrator. However, the High Court apparently did not realize that
c   there was no provision under which the management of an unaided private
    college could be taken over by the Administrator. In spite of our repeated
    query, none of the counsel was able to point out any provision either under
    the AICTE Act or the HP Education Act or University Act permitting the
    authorities to take over the management of institution. However laudable the
D   objective behind the steps taken by the High Court, it cannot be justified
    under law. The imposition of an Administrator to take over the reins of
    administration for an indefinite point of time would undoubtedly amount to
    interference with the right of administering and managing a private educational
    institution which is now recognized to be a part of the fundamental right
    under Article 19(l)(g) as held by this Court in TMA Pai Foundation Vs. State
E   of Kamataka (Supra). It would go against the principle of autonomy in regard
    to administration which has been emphasized by this Court in the said case.
    In the circumstances, the jurisdiction under Article 226 could not have been
    exercised by the High Court to oust the private management and transfer the
    management to a Court-appointed official.

F         Directions to check mal-administration in conformity with the provisions
    ofrelevant statutes is one thing and deprivation of management to the private
    body which established the institution is another thing. The latter should not
    have been resorted to without authority of law. We have, therefore, no option
    but to set aside the order of the High Court appointing the Administrator to
G   manage the affairs of the college. At the same time, we are of the view that
    certain checks and balances are needed to ensure proper administration of the
    college iri the overall interest of the students. While allowing the previous
    Management (Society) to resume management, the present nominee of the
    Administrator (Joint Director, Technical Education) shall continue to play a
    role in overseeing the functioning of the college and guiding the Managing
H   Committee at least for a year. It is to be noted that the Director, Technical
      l.I.T.T. COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING v. STATE [BALAKRISHNAN, J.] 357

Education is also one of the members of the Governing Body. He is not a              A
stranger to the managing body of the College. If so, he can continue to play
an active role if not in the capacity of the Director, in his capacity as a
member of the Governing Body. We are anxious to see that the process of
improvements brought about by the Administrator and his nominee should
not come to a halt and the students should not feel insecure.
                                                                                     B
       Before concluding, we may refer to the argument of the learned senior
counsel for the appellant that in view of what has been laid down in Jaya
Gokul Educational Trust v. Commissioner & Secretary to Government Higher
Education, [2000] 5 SCC 231, the University should not have withheld the
affiliation inspite of the approval given earlier by AICTE. It is contended that     C
the provisions of the AICTE Act and Regulations will prevail over the
provisions if any in the University Act or State Act which are inconsistent
with the provisions of the former Act. This contention need not be considered
in view of the latest stand taken by AICTE and the approval/affiliation given
by AICTE as well as University during the tenure of Administrator for courses
other than IT.                                                                       D
      In the result, the appeal is disposed of with the following directions:-

        The management and administration of the college shall be restored to
 the appellant within a month. However, to protect the interests of the students
 by keeping up the tempo of improvements made by the Administrator and to            E
 have a check against mal-administration at least for sometime, we direct that
 the present nominee of the Administrator, namely, the Joint Director of
 Tec.hnical Education should be allowed to oversee the running of the institution
 and give necessary instructions to the Management in the interests of creating
 proper academic atmosphere in the campus, while keeping in view the financial       F
 position and the obligations to be discharged by the Management to maintain
 necessary standards. The said official should be allowed to have access to
 material information including the financial position and transactions. In regard
 to admissions for the current year i.e., for the year 2003-2004, the list of
 admissions shall be finalized only after consultation with the said official and
 any objections pointed out by him should be duly considered by the                  G
 Management. Nothing should be done by the Management to disturb the
 existing conditions of service of teaching and non-teaching staff to the
detriment of such staff. Whatever amount that was withdrawn just before the
pronouncement of the judgment of the High Court and subsequent to the
judgment, shall be put back in the bank under intimation to the Joint Director,      H
    358                     SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003) SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A   Technical Education. In case any irregularities or instances of mismanagement
    or non-compliance with the directives given herein are noticed, the Director
    of Technical Education may approach the High Court for appropriate orders.
    It is open to the AICTE/University authorities to call upon the petitioner to
    remedy the deficiencies that may be persisting at the time of granting
B   affiliation/approval in the future and in case of non-compliance, to take such
    action as is open to them under law. The need or otherwise of the nominee
    official (Joint Director, Technical Education) to continue to be associated
    with the administration on the lines indicated supra may be reviewed by the
    High Court after the expiry of at least one year.

C        The operative part of this judgment was pronounced on 9th May, 2003.
    This detailed judgment with reasons is now pronounced.

    N.J.                                                    Appeals disposed of.