SC Deprecates Tendency Of Educational Institutions Admitting Students Beyond The Numbers Permitted [Read Judgment]

The Supreme Court deprecated the tendency of the educational institutions admitting students beyond the numbers permitted and thereby putting the future of the students at stake.

The court was considering a plea by Foundation for Organizational Research and Education Fore School Management challenging the action of All India Council for Technical Education in rejecting their request for extension of approval of existing seats and for increase in seats in certain courses.

The bench comprising Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Surya Kant said that action of the institution in granting admission to the students beyond the seats sanctioned is totally illegal and contrary to law. The court said:

"Even assuming that the decision of the AICTE was not correct, the petitioner institution had no business to admit students beyond the number permitted by the AICTE. In case the petitioner institution felt that the AICTE was delaying the matter or was not acting fairly, the proper course for the petitioner was to have approached this Court and prayed for 1 (2013) 3 SCC 385 5 appropriate relief. The petitioner could not take the law into its own hand and grant admission to students in excess of the seats permitted by the AICTE. Therefore, we have no doubt in our mind that the action of the petitioner in granting admission to the students beyond the seats sanctioned is totally illegal and contrary to law. . Time and again, this Court has noticed that the educational institutions admit students beyond the numbers permitted putting the future of the students at stake."

The court also observed that though the AICTE has no discretion to award a lesser penalty, the institution has been imposed with lesser penalty. The bench, while dismissing the plea also added:

"The students who had paid large sums of money should not be made to suffer. They have already completed the course but the degrees have not been awarded to them. We, therefore, direct that the degrees be awarded to the said students. " 

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