Expressing concern over the way some private colleges offering professional courses are managing to secure permission and the all-India councils concerned are failing to enforce rules, the Hyderabad High Court remarked that all this was turning out to be a ‘money-making circus’.
Writ appeal
The observation was made by Chief Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan on Friday. The CJ, along with Justice S.V. Bhat, was hearing a writ appeal filed by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) challenging the order of a single judge that it should reconsider not granting permission to a private college offering MBA programme in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.
AICTE counsel told the bench that management of the Seshachala Venkata Subbaiah PG College in Puttur of Chittoor district had no basic infrastructural facilities like building or computers. Hence, the college was not granted permission to offer MBA course for 2018-19 year. When the CJ sought to know when the AICTE found the college was not well-equipped, counsel said the deficiencies had been there for several years but the college presented papers claiming all facilities were available.
“What did you do for so many years? Did you prosecute the persons running the college?” the CJ asked. He remarked that the very laws based on which the councils like AICTE formed had provisions that gave scope for corruption. It was not the college in question alone but the situation of many colleges was like this, the Chief Justice said.
Counsel maintained there was some confusion related to the columns of admission mentioned in the papers presented in the court. “If details of the college at admissions stage are confusing, what would be the status of final product coming out of the college,” the CJ remarked.
Fate of students
When the bench asked what would be the fate of the students who were already admitted if the college was not granted permission, the AICTE’s counsel replied that they would be shifted to other colleges.
But the Bench made it clear that the college should pay back the fees paid by the students.
When counsel for the college tried to explain the background, the CJ said the college was not a China toys store and “you cannot make China toys out of an educational institution”. Expressing unhappiness over the status of professional education sector, the CJ said that private medical colleges had a different mode to convince the Medical Council of India to secure permissions.
“If five medical colleges are there, same batch of patients would be shown to the inspection committee. The ambulances carrying patients would reach the college before the committee,” the CJ said. Referring to a case heard by the Kerala High Court, the CJ noted that he knew about toilets being turned into pharmacy centres in a medical college.
“Some times ward boys end up posing as patients during inspection,” he said.
