Full Judgment Text
REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION
WRIT PETITION (C) NO.518 OF 2021
DEVENDRA PATHAK SARVODAYA
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION ...PETITIONER(S)
VERSUS
NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR TEACHER
EDUCATION AND ORS. ...RESPONDENT(S)
WITH
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.532 OF 2021
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.793 OF 2021
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.778 OF 2021
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.789 OF 2021
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.794 OF 2021
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.608 OF 2021
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.602 OF 2021
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.601 OF 2021
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.538 OF 2021
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.711 OF 2021
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.823 OF 2021
J U D G M E N T
B.R. GAVAI, J.
Signature Not Verified
Digitally signed by R
Natarajan
Date: 2021.08.11
12:46:33 IST
Reason:
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1. The facts in all these bunch of petitions are almost
similar and as such, are decided by this common judgment.
We will refer to the facts in the lead matter i.e. Writ
2.
Petition (Civil) No.518 of 2021 in some detail and would refer to
the bare necessary facts in all other matters.
Writ Petition (Civil) No.518 of 2021
3. The petitioner college was established as unaided
training college to impart Bachelor in Teacher Education (B.Ed.)
and Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed.) courses in the
year 2011.
4. The petitioner college submitted an application to
respondent No.1 – National Council for Teacher Education
(hereinafter referred to as ‘NCTE’) for grant of recognition under
Section 14(1) of the National Council for Teacher Education Act,
1993 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the said Act’) for conducting
B.Ed. course with an annual intake of 100 students.
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5. Vide order dated 25.2.2014, NCTE granted recognition
for B.Ed. course under one year programme for Academic Year
20142015 with an annual intake of 100 students.
6. Respondent No. 2 – Magadh University, Bodh Gaya,
Bihar, vide letter dated 2.8.2014 granted affiliation to the
petitioner college to conduct admission with 100 seats of one
year B.Ed. course from Academic Year 20142015 till
continuation of accreditation of NCTE.
7. By the National Council for Teacher Education
(Recognition, Norms and Procedure) Regulations, 2014
(hereinafter referred to as ‘2014 Regulations’), notified on
28.11.2014, a twoyear B.Ed. course was introduced instead of
oneyear B.Ed. course from Academic Session 20152016
onwards.
8. Petitionercollege by an affidavit agreed to come under
2014 Regulations and sought for two basic units (100 seats) in
B.Ed. course, which requires additional facilities. Vide order
dated 23.5.2015, petitionercollege was granted recognition for
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twoyear B.Ed. course for Academic Session 20152016 with an
annual intake capacity of 100 seats. Petitionercollege was also
granted recognition for D.El.Ed. course vide order dated
2.5.2016 with an annual intake of 50 seats for two years
duration from Academic Session 20162017 to 20172018.
9. On 3.6.2016, after receiving NOC, the petitionercollege
submitted its online application to NCTE seeking recognition for
additional two units (100 seats) for D.El.Ed. and B.Ed. courses
along with relevant documents.
Vide order dated 26.9.2017, respondent No.3 – Bihar
10.
School Examination Board granted affiliation to the petitioner
college for conducting D.El.Ed. course with one unit (50 seats)
from Academic Session 20172019.
th
In the 280 meeting of NCTE, held on 29.2.2020 and
11.
1.3.2020, a visiting team was constituted under the provisions
of Section 15 of the said Act so as to inspect the infrastructure
and instructional facilities for additional intake in B.Ed. and
D.El.Ed. courses. However, on account of Covid19 pandemic,
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inspection could not take place as scheduled. Subsequently,
inspection in the petitionercollege came to be conducted on
8.3.2021 and a letter of intent was issued in favour of the
petitionercollege by NCTE for additional intake in B.Ed. and
D.El.Ed. courses as to the proposal submitted by the petitioner
th
college on 10.6.20216. In the 290 meeting held on 3.3.2021,
NCTE found that the petitionercollege has adequate facility
required for conducting teachers’ courses. Petitionercollege
was therefore asked to intimate its willingness on an affidavit
about the number of units sought for the purpose of granting of
the formal recognition. Petitionercollege replied thereto stating
that the petitionercollege has the necessary infrastructure for
additional intake of two units for B.Ed. course and two units for
D.El.Ed. course. Recognition was granted to the petitioner
college for additional intake of two units in B.Ed. course and
st
two units in D.El.Ed. course in the 291 meeting of NCTE, held
on 12.4.2021. However, by the said resolution, the recognition
has been granted for Academic Year 20222023 and not for
Academic Year 20212022.
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12. In this background, the petitionercollege has
approached this Court seeking a direction to the respondents to
grant recognition for Academic Year 20212022.
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 532 OF 2021
In the present case, the petitionercollege had applied
13.
in pursuance to the public notice issued by NCTE in the year
2015 thereby inviting applications for running D.El.Ed. course
from Academic Session 20162017. Though the petitioner’s
application was pending since 2015, the Eastern Regional
nd
Committee of NCTE (hereinafter referred to as ‘ERC’) in its 292
meeting, held on 20.4.2021, decided to grant recognition to the
petitionercollege from Academic Session 20222023. The
petitioner has, therefore, approached this Court seeking similar
relief for a direction to grant recognition from the Academic
Year 20212022.
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 793 OF 2021
14. In the present case also, the petitioner, in pursuance to
the public notice issued by the NCTE in the year 2015, made
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an application for running B.Ed. and D.El.Ed. courses. The
Department of School Education and Literacy Department
(Primary Education Secretariat), State of Jharkhand has also
granted ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC) for running D.El.Ed.
course on 26.2.2016. The application of the petitioner was
rejected by ERC vide order dated 14.4.2016 insofar as D.El.Ed.
course is concerned. The reason given was that the NOC had
not been received from the Directorate of Primary Education,
Government of Jharkhand. ERC also rejected the application
of the petitioner for B.Ed. vide order dated 14.4.2016 on the
ground that the institution has not submitted the NOC for the
D.El.Ed. programme and as such, recognition for B.Ed. course
cannot be granted.
15. There was a series of litigation between the petitioner
and the NCTE. The Division Bench of the Jharkhand High
Court vide order dated 2.4.2019 allowed LPA no.148 of 2018
and directed ERC and NCTE to revive the application of the
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petitioner and to process the same for Academic Session 2020
2022.
16. Thereafter, there were certain correspondences between
ERC of NCTE and the petitioner with regard to certain
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compliances. Finally, ERC in its 293 meeting, held on
9.6.2021, decided to grant recognition to the petitioner for
conducting D.El.Ed. and B.Ed. courses from Academic Session
20222023 with an annual intake of 100 seats (two units) in
each course.
In this background, the petitioner has approached this
17.
Court seeking a similar relief.
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 778 OF 2021
18. The petitioner applied for grant of
permission/recognition to run D.El.Ed. course on 5.7.2016 for
two units of 50 students each. NCTE granted permission to the
petitioner on 14.2.2018 to run one unit i.e. 50 students in
respect of D.El.Ed. course. There were certain litigations with
regard to nongrant of second unit to the petitioner. Finally, in
8
st
its 291 meeting, held on 12.4.2021, ERC decided to issue one
additional unit of intake to the petitioner for running D.El.Ed.
course from Academic Session 20222023. Petitioner also
seeks similar relief as sought by the other petitioners.
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 789 OF 2021
19. The petitioner had applied on 20.10.2008 for
conducting B.Ed. course with intake of 100 students (two
units). There were series of litigations between the petitioner
and the North Regional Committee of the NCTE (hereinafter
referred to as ‘NRC’). On 13.1.2021, the Western Regional
Committee of the NCTE (hereinafter referred to as ‘WRC’), which
now has the jurisdiction to process the applications pertaining
to institutions in Rajasthan, issued letter of intent after finding
th
no deficiency in the petitionerinstitution. WRC in its 337
th th
meeting (virtual) held on 7 9 July, 2021, decided to grant
recognition to the petitionerinstitution for conducting B.Ed.
with intake of two units (100 seats) from the Academic Session
9
20222023. In this background, the petitioners approached
this Court seeking similar relief.
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 794 OF 2021
20. In the present case also, the petitionercollege in
response to the public notice issued in the year 2015 by the
NCTE applied on 30.6.2015 for grant of recognition for B.Ed.
course from Academic Session 20162017. Vide order dated
10.11.2016, the application of the petitionercollege came to be
nd
rejected by the WRC in its 262 meeting. The petitioner
preferred statutory appeal, which was allowed and WRC was
directed to reconsider the issue. After series of
th
correspondences and some litigation, WRC in its 337 meeting
decided to grant recognition to the petitioner for conducting
B.Ed. course from the Academic Session 20222023. The
petitioner has therefore approached this Court seeking similar
relief.
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 608 OF 2021
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21. The petitioner in pursuance to the public notice issued
by NCTE in the year 2015 applied for grant of recognition for
conducting B.Ed. course from the Academic Session 20162017
with an annual intake of 100 students. The said application
was made on 2.6.2015. After a long period of six years, ERC in
nd
its 292 meeting, held on 20.4.2021, decided to grant
recognition to the petitionerinstitution for conducting B.Ed.
course of two years duration with an annual intake of 100
students (two basic units) from the Academic Session 2022
2023. As such, petitioner has approached this Court seeking
similar relief.
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 602 OF 2021
In the present case also, the petitioner, in response to
22.
the public notice issued by the NCTE, submitted its application
in the year 2016 for grant of recognition for conducting B.Ed.
and D.El.Ed. courses. The application of the petitionercollege
came to be rejected in the year 2018. Being aggrieved thereby,
the petitioner had approached the Delhi High Court by filing
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Writ Petition (Civil) No. 5888 of 2018. The Delhi High Court by
order dated 28.5.2018 directed ERC to consider the application
of the petitioner de hors the requirement of NOC. Accordingly,
st
ERC in its 291 meeting, held on 12.4.2021, granted
recognition to the petitioner for conducting B.Ed. and D.El.Ed.
courses for two units (100 students) from the Academic Session
20222023. The petitioner therefore approached this Court
seeking similar relief.
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 601 OF 2021
23. In the present case also, the petitioner, in response to
the public notice issued in the year 2015 by the NCTE, sought
recognition for conducting B.Ed. course from the Academic
Session 20162017 with an annual intake of 100 students vide
application dated 15.6.2015. The said application was pending
nd
for a period of six years and finally ERC in its 292 meeting
held on 20.4.2021 granted recognition to the petitioner for
conducting B.Ed. course of twoyear duration with an annual
intake of 100 students (two basic units) from Academic Session
12
20222023. The petitioner thus approached this Court seeking
similar relief.
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 538 OF 2021
24. In the present case also, the petitioner, in response to
the public notice issued in the year 2015 by the NCTE, sought
recognition for conducting D.El.Ed. course from the Academic
Session 20162017 with an annual intake of 100 students vide
application dated 15.6.2015. The said application was pending
nd
for a period of six years and finally ERC in its 292 meeting
held on 20.4.2021 granted recognition to the petitioner for
conducting D.El.Ed. course of twoyear duration with an
annual intake of 100 students (two basic units) from Academic
Session 20222023. The petitioner thus approached this Court
seeking similar relief.
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 711 OF 2021
In the present case, the petitioner had applied for grant
25.
of recognition for conducting B.Ed. course with intake of 100
students (two units) on 24.12.2012. The said application was
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returned on ban imposed by the Government of Haryana. The
petitioner therefore approached the Delhi High Court by filing
Writ Petition (Civil) No.2383 of 2018. The said petition was
allowed on 14.3.2018 thereby directing the respondents to
th
reconsider the petitioner’s application. NRC in its 295
meeting issued show cause notice to the petitioner to which
reply was submitted by the petitioner on 29.3.2019. The
petitioner again approached the Delhi High Court by way of
filing Writ Petition (Civil) No.2835 of 2019 and the Delhi High
Court remanded the matter to NRC for reconsideration by order
th
dated 6.11.2019. NRC, in its 335 (virtual) meeting, decided to
grant recognition to the petitionerinstitution for conducting
B.Ed. course of twoyear duration with an intake of 100 seats
(two basic units) from the Academic Session 20222023. Thus,
the petitioner approached this Court seeking similar relief.
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 823 OF 2021
26. The petitioner had submitted its application in the year
2015 for conducting B.Ed. course. A letter of intent also came
14
to be issued to the petitioner. There were exchange of
communications between NRC and the petitioner leading to no
result. As such, the petitioner filed a writ petition being Writ
Petition (Civil) No.1522 of 2021 before the Delhi High Court.
The said petition came to be disposed of by order dated
5.2.2021 directing the respondents to consider the petitioner’s
application within 10 weeks. In term of the decision taken by
th
NRC in its 336 meeting, by order dated 28.6.2021, it granted
recognition to the petitioner for conducting B.Ed. course from
the Academic Session 20222023 with annual intake of 50
students. Hence, the petitioner approached this Court seeking
similar relief as sought by the other petitioners.
27. We have heard Shri Amitesh Kumar, Shri Shreeyash
Uday Lalit and Shri Mayank Manish, learned counsel for the
petitioners, Ms. Manisha T. Karia, learned counsel for NCTE,
Dr. Manish Singhvi, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the
State of Rajasthan and Shri Kunal Chatterji, learned counsel
for West Bengal Board of Primary Education.
15
28. It is contended on behalf of the petitioners that though
NCTE or its Regional Committees after having satisfied granted
recognition to the petitionerscolleges/institutions for the
Academic Year 20222023, for no reason, the recognition is not
granted for the Academic Year 20212022. It is submitted that
the petitioners have fully complied with all the infrastructural
requirements of the NCTE and there is no reason as to why
recognition should not be granted for the Academic Year 2021
2022.
Ms. Manisha T. Karia, learned AdvocateonRecord for
29.
the NCTE submitted that taking into consideration the time
frame as is prescribed by this Court in the case of
Maa
Vaishno Devi Mahila Mahavidyalaya v. State of Uttar
1
Pradesh and others , the recognition has been granted only
from the Academic Year 20222023 and not from the Academic
Year 20212022. Learned counsel for the respondent – States
also submit that the petitions deserve to be dismissed.
1 (2013) 2 SCC 617
16
30. As could be seen from the facts narrated herein above,
proposal of the petitioners for grant of recognition for
conducting either B.Ed. course or D.El.Ed. course or for both
have been pending for considerable periods. In some cases,
they have been pending as long as for a period of six years. In
some cases, there has been series of litigations.
31. However, the factor that is common in all the matters is
that NCTE or its Regional Committees, after considering all the
necessary requirements, have granted recognition for
conducting B.Ed./D.El.Ed. course for Academic Session 2022
2023.
32. It will be relevant to refer to paragraph 2 of the order
th
dated 19 April, 2021 passed by the NCTE in the lead matter
i.e. Writ Petition (Civil) No.518 of 2021, which read thus:
“2. AND WHEREAS , on scrutiny of the
application submitted by the institution, the
documents attached therewith the affidavit
submitted and the report received from VT and
videography, and the certificates received from
the affiliating body, the Committee is satisfied
that the applicant fulfils the requirements
17
under the provisions of NCTE Act, Rules and
relevant Regulations including the Norms and
Standards for the said teacher education
programme such as instructional facilities,
infrastructural facilities, financial resources,
etc., for running the programme.”
33. Perusal of the other petitions would reveal that either
identical or similar reasons have been given while granting
recognition. It could thus be seen that recognition has been
granted by NCTE or its Regional Committees on scrutiny of the
applications submitted by the institutions, the documents
attached therewith, the affidavits submitted and the reports
received from Visiting Teams and videography. It also mentions
that the Committee was satisfied that the applicant(s) fulfills
the requirement under the provisions of NCTE Act, rules and
relevant Regulations, after considering the certificates issued
from the affiliating bodies. The order also records its
satisfaction with regard to Norms and Standards for the teacher
education programme such as instructional facilities,
infrastructural facilities, financial resources, etc. for running
the programme.
18
34. After arriving at such a satisfaction, we are of the view
that there can be no rational for NCTE or its Regional
Committee to deny the recognition from the Academic Year
20212022 and insist on recognition for Academic Session
20222023. It is not in dispute that the counselling for
admission is yet to commence. Insofar as the timeline
prescribed in the judgment of this Court in the case of Maa
(supra) is concerned,
Vaishno Devi Mahila Mahavidyalaya
this Court itself in catena of orders placed on record has
modified the timeline fixed therein. We find that same course
needs to be followed in the present matter, particularly, when
the delay is not attributable to the petitioners, but, on the
contrary to NCTE or its Regional Committees.
35. We therefore allow the petitions in the following terms:
(i) The cutoff date fixed by this Court in
Maa
Vaishno Devi Mahila Mahavidyalaya (supra) is
extended in the facts of these cases;
19
(ii) It is held and declared that the petitioners would
be entitled to the recognition granted by
respective orders passed by NCTE or its Regional
Committees from the Academic Session 2021
2022 instead of Academic Session 20222023.
(iii) The Respondent – NCTE and its Regional
Committees are directed to issue formal
orders/notifications in that regard within a period
of three days from today.
(iv) The State and other Authorities would consider
grant of affiliation and/or other requisite
permissions within a period of 15 days from
today;
(v) The petitioners would be entitled to admit the
students for Academic Session 20212022 as per
the sanction granted by NCTE for the Academic
Session 20222023.
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(vi) The name of the petitionercolleges/institutions
shall be included in the counselling programme
for admissions.
The writ petitions are allowed and disposed of in the
36.
above terms. Consequently, all pending applications shall
stand disposed of.
…..….......................J.
[R.F. NARIMAN]
…….........................J.
[B.R. GAVAI]
NEW DELHI;
AUGUST 11, 2021.
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