AI OCR 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2001 (1) TMI 994
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....Education and its functionaries (hereinafter described as "the Appellants") against judgment dated 13.5.2009 of the Division Bench of the High Court affirming the order of the learned Single Judge. Scheme of the Act and the Regulations: 3. With a view to achieve the object of planned and coordinated development for the teacher education system throughout the country and for regulation and proper maintenance of norms and standards in the teacher education system and for matters connected therewith, Parliament enacted the National Council for Teacher Education Act, 1993 (for short, "the Act"), which provides for the establishment of a Council to be called the National Council for Teacher Education (for short, "the NCTE") with multifarious functions, powers and duties. Section 2(c) of the Act defines the term "Council" to mean a Council established under Sub-section (1) of Section 3. Section 2(i) defines the term "recognised institution" to mean an institution recognised under Section 14. Section 2(j) defines the term "Regional Committee" to mean a Committee established under Section 20. Section 3 provides for establishment....
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.... the implementation of the provisions of the Act. Sections 12, 14 to 16 and 17A of the Act, which have bearing on the decision of these appeals read as under: 12. Functions of the Council.- It shall be the duty of the Council to take all such steps as it may think fit for ensuring planned and coordinated development of teacher education and for the determination and maintenance of standards for teacher education and for the purposes of performing its functions under this Act, the Council may- (a) undertake surveys and studies relating to various aspects of teacher education and publish the result thereof; (b) make recommendations to the Central and State Governments, Universities, University Grants Commission and recognised institutions in the matter of preparation of suitable plans and programmes in the field of teacher education; (c) coordinate and monitor teacher education and its development in the country; (d) lay down guidelines in respect of minimum qualifications for a person to be employed as a teacher in schools or in recognised institutions; (e) lay down norms for any specified category of courses or training in teacher education, including the minimum eligib....
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....ed in writing: Provided that before passing an order under Sub-clause (b), the Regional Committee shall provide a reasonable opportunity to the concerned institution for making a written representation. (4) xxx xxx xxx (5) Every institution, in respect of which recognition has been refused shall discontinue the course or training in teacher education from the end of the academic session next following the date of receipt of the order refusing recognition passed under Clause (b) of Sub-section (3). (6) Every examining body shall, on receipt of the order under Sub-section (4),- (a) grant affiliation to the institution, where recognition has been granted; or (b) cancel the affiliation of the institution, where recognition has been refused. 15. Permission for a new course or training by recognised institution.- (1) Where any recognised institution intends to start any new course or training in teacher education, it may make an application to seek permission therefore to the Regional Committee concerned in such form and in such manner as may be determined by regulations. (2) The fees to be paid along with the application under Sub-section (1) shall be such as may be pr....
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....al Council for Teacher Education (Form of application for recognition, the time limit of submission of application, determination of norms and standards for recognition of teacher education programmes and permission to start new course or training) Regulations, 2002". These regulations were amended six times between 2003 and 2005 and were finally repealed by "the National Council for Teacher Education (Recognition, Norms and Procedure) Regulations, 2005". The 2005 Regulations were repealed by the 2007 Regulations. The relevant provisions of the 2007 Regulations are reproduced below: 4. Eligibility The following categories of institutions are eligible for consideration of their applications under these regulations: (1) Institutions established by or under the authority of Central/State Government/UT Administration; (2) Institutions financed by Central/State Government/UT Administration; (3) All universities, including institutions deemed to be universities, so recognized under UGC Act, 1956. (4) Self financed educational institutions established and operated by 'not for profit', Societies and Trusts registered under the appropriate law. 5. Manner....
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....ns to the office of the Regional Committee concerned of the National Council for Teacher Education within 60 days from receipt. If the recommendation is negative, the State Government/UT Administration shall provide detailed reasons/grounds thereof with necessary statistics, which shall be taken into consideration by the Regional Committee concerned while deciding the application. If no communication is received from the State Government/UT Administration within the stipulated 60 days, it shall be presumed that the State Government/UT Administration concerned has no recommendation to make. (4) After removal of all the deficiencies and to the satisfaction of the Regional Committee concerned, the inspection of infrastructure, equipments, instructional facilities etc, of an institution shall be conducted by a team of experts called Visiting Team (VT) with a view to assessing the level of preparedness of the institution to commence the course. Inspection would be subject to the consent of the institution and submission of the self- attested copy of the completion certificate of the building. Such inspection, as far as administratively and logistically possible, shall be in the chrono....
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....nducting the course or training in teacher education. These norms, inter alia, cover conditions relating to financial resources, accommodation, library, laboratory, other physical infrastructure, qualified staff including teaching and non-teaching personnel, etc. (2) In the first instance, an institution shall be considered for grant of recognition for only one course for the basic unit as prescribed in the norms & standards for the particular teacher education programme. An institution can apply for one basic unit of an additional course from the subsequent academic session. However, application for not more than one additional course can be made in a year. (3) An institution shall be permitted to apply for enhancement of course wise intake in teacher education courses already approved, after completion of three academic sessions of running the respective courses. (4) An institution shall be permitted to apply for enhancement of intake in Secondary Teacher Education Programme - B. Ed. & B.P. Ed. Programme, if it has accredited itself with the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with a Letter Grade B developed by NAAC. (5) An institution that has been grant....
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.... recognition/permission for starting various teacher training courses for current academic session i.e. 2008-2009. All complete applications pending with the Regional Committees shall be processed for the current academic session i.e. 2008-2009 in accordance with the provisions of relevant Regulations and maintaining the chronological sequence and final decision, either recognition granted or refused, shall be communicated by 31st August, 2008. 6. By Notification No. F.51-1/2009-NCTE (N&S) dated 31.8.2009, the 2007 Regulations were also repealed by the National Council for Teacher Education (Recognition, Norms and Procedure) Regulations, 2009 (for short, "the 2009 Regulations"). The provisions contained in these Regulations including the cut off dates specified in Clauses (4) and (5) of Regulation 5 are similar to the corresponding provisions of the 2007 Regulations. 7. At this stage it will be apposite to notice the guidelines issued by NCTE vide letter dated 2.2.1996 for ensuring that the teacher training institutions are established keeping in view the requirement of trained teachers in the particular State or the Union Territory. The same read as under: 1. The e....
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....dential facilities for the Principal and staff of the institutions as well as hostel facilities for substantial proportion of its enrolment should be encouraged. 7. Considering that certain areas (tribal, hilly regions, etc.) have found it difficult to attain qualified and trained teachers, it would be desirable to encourage establishment of training institutions in those areas. 8. Institutions should be allowed to come into existence only if the sponsors are able to ensure that they have adequate material and manpower resources in terms, for instance, of qualified teachers and other staff, adequate buildings and other infrastructure (laboratory, library, etc.), a reserve fund and operating funds to meet the day-to-day requirements of the institutions, including payment of salaries, provision of equipment, etc. Laboratories, teaching science methodologies and practicals should have adequate gas plants, proper fittings and regular supply of water, electricity, etc. They should also have adequate arrangements. Capabilities of the institution for fulfilling norms prepared by NCTE may be kept in view. 9. In the establishment of an institution preference needs to be given to locat....
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....ed the Council to issue approval letters and allot students to the private Respondents. 10. The Appellants contested the writ petitions by relying upon Clauses (4) and (5) of Regulation 5 and notification dated 1.7.2008 and pleaded that recognition could not be given to the writ Petitioners because their establishments were inspected after 31.8.2008. The learned Single Judge then directed the Council to file affidavit to show whether 80 similarly situated institutions were granted recognition on the basis of decision taken in the meeting of the Northern Regional Committee held on 20-21.9.2008. In compliance of that order, affidavit dated 25.2.2009 was filed on behalf of the Council, wherein it was claimed that recognition was granted to some institutions after 31.8.2008 in compliance of the orders passed by the Delhi High Court. 11. After considering the pleadings of the parties and taking cognizance of order dated 12.12.2008 passed in Bright Future Teacher Training Institute v. State of Rajasthan S.B. civil Writ Petition No. 13038 of 2008, the learned Single Judge framed the following questions: (i) Whether once the Respondents have granted recognition to the thirteen Institut....
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....n was carried out after 31.8.2008, therefore, they cannot be permitted to say that although they have committed illegality but the same cannot be allowed to be perpetuated by granting recognition to the Petitioner Institutions. In my view, the entire issue is to be examined with reference to the decision dated 31.10.2008 when the recognition order was issued in favour of Petitioner Institutions in compliance to the interim direction of this Court dated 24.10.2008 as in the meeting dated 20-21.9.2008 minor defects were pointed out in case of recognition order passed in favour of 80 colleges. The fixation of date - 31.8.2008 without considering the applications and completion of formalities is fortuitous and arbitrary. In view of the above, withholding recognition in the meeting dated 20-21/9/2008 and 31.10.2008 is not only discriminatory but arbitrary also and the said action is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. I am of the further view that the Respondents who have not acted fairly cannot be allowed to contend that the Petitioners are not entitled to recognition on account of inspection being carried out after 31.8.2008 in the aforesaid facts and circumstances. ....
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....minations. Shri Ramachandran then submitted that the 2007 Regulations contain a comprehensive mechanism for grant of recognition to eligible applicants for starting courses and for increasing the intake and provision for consultation with the concerned State Government/Union Territory Administration has been made with a view to ensure that unduly large number of institutions are not granted permission to start the courses and the State may find it impossible to provide employment to the students successfully completing the courses every year. Learned senior counsel made a pointed reference to letter dated 27.1.2009 sent by Principal Secretary of the Council to the Regional Director, Northern Regional Committee on the question of grant of recognition for B. Ed., STC, Shiksha Shastri Courses in the State of Rajasthan for academic session 2009-2010 to show that decision was taken by the Council not to grant recognition keeping in view the fact that there was virtually no requirement of trained teachers in the State. 15. We have given serious thought to the arguments of the learned Counsel. We shall first deal with the question whether the cut off dates specified in Clauses (4) and (5....
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....the power of determining who should be regarded as a class for purposes of legislation and in relation to a law enacted on a particular subject. This power, no doubt, in some degree is likely to produce some inequality; but if a law deals with the liberties of a number of well defined classes, it is not open to the charge of denial of equal protection on the ground that it has no application to other persons. Classification thus means segregation in classes which have a systematic relation, usually found in common properties and characteristics. It postulates a rational basis and does not mean herding together of certain persons and classes arbitrarily. (6) The law can make and set apart the classes according to the needs and exigencies of the society and as suggested by experience. It can recognise even degree of evil, but the classification should never be arbitrary, artificial or evasive. (7) The classification must not be arbitrary but must be rational, that is to say, it must not only be based on some qualities or characteristics which are to be found in all the persons grouped together and not in others who are left out but those qualities or characteristics must have a r....
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.... 75 million matches would have failed to avail of the concessional rate on their clearances by filing the declaration at the earliest possible date. As already stated, the Respondent filed its application for licence on September 5, 1967 and made the declaration on that date. The concessional rate of duty was intended for small bona fide units who were in the field when the notification dated September 4, 1967 was issued; the concessional rate was not intended to benefit the large units which had split up into smaller units to earn the concession. The tendency towards fragmentation of the bigger units into smaller ones in order to earn the concessional rate of duty has been noted by the Tariff Commission in its report [see the extract from the report given at p. 500 (SCC, p.431) in M. Match Works v. Assistant Collector, Central Excise]. The whole object of the notification dated September 4, 1967 was to prevent further fragmentation of the bigger units into smaller ones in order to get the concessional rate of duty intended for the smaller units and thus defeat the purpose which the Government had in view. In other words, the purpose of the notification was to prevent the larger un....
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....3 was discriminatory and violative of Article 14. The Constitution Bench referred to the judgment in Union of India v. Parameswaran Match Works (supra) and observed: It has not been shown in this case how it could be said that the date (April 1, 1973) for the levy of the tax was wide of the reasonable mark. On the other hand it would appear from the brief narration of the historical background of the Act that the State legislature had imposed the building tax under the Kerala Building Tax Act, 1961, which came into force on March 2, 1961, and when that Act was finally struck down as unconstitutional by this Court's decision dated August 13, 1968, the intention to introduce a fresh Bill for the levy was made clear in the budget speech of 1970-71. It will be recalled that the Bill was published in June 1973 and it was stated there that the Act would be brought into force from April 1, 1970. The Bill was introduced in the Assembly on July 5, 1973. The Select Committee however recommended that it may be brought into force from April 1, 1973. Two Ordinances were promulgated to give effect to the provisions of the Bill. The Bill was passed soon after and received the Governor's....
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....the Respondents and some others would qualify for appointment if the last date for receipt of applications is shifted from January 31, 1988 to June 30, 1988 is no reason for dubbing the earlier date as arbitrary or irrational. (emphasis supplied) 20. The same view was reiterated in Dr. Sushma Sharma v. State of Rajasthan (1985) Supp. SCC 45, University Grants Commission v. Sadhana Chaudhary (1996) 10 SCC 536, Ramrao v. All India Backward Class Bank Employees Welfare Association (2004) 2 SCC 76 and State of Punjab v. Amar Nath Goyal (2005) 6 SCC 754. 21. If challenge to the cut off dates specified in Clauses (4) and (5) of Regulation 5 is examined in the light of the propositions laid down in the above noted judgments, it is not possible to find any fault with the decision of the Council to prescribe 31st October of the year preceding the academic session for which recognition is sought as the last date for submission of application to the Regional Committee and 15th May of the succeeding year as the date for communication of the decision about grant of recognition or refusal thereof. The scheme of the 2007 Regulations envisages the following steps: (1) The applications receive....
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....ion. Likewise, by fixing 15th May of the year succeeding the cut off date fixed for submission of application, the Council has ensured that adequate time is available to the institution to complete the course, teaching as well as training and the students get an opportunity to comply with the requirement of minimum attendance. For academic session 2008-2009, the cut off date was amended because the 2007 Regulations were notified on 27.12.2007 and going by the cut off dates specified in Clauses (4) and (5) of Regulation 5, no application could have been entertained and no institution could have been recognized for B. Ed. course. 23. In our view, the cut off dates specified in the two clauses of Regulation 5 of the 2007 Regulations and notification dated 1.7.2008 are neither arbitrary nor irrational so as to warrant a conclusion that the same are violative of Article 14 of the Constitution. The conclusion of the learned Single Judge that 31.8.2008 fixed vide notification dated 1.7.2008 is discriminatory and violative of Article 14 appears to have been influenced by the fact that some of the applicants, whose applications were considered in the meeting of the Regional Committee held ....
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....visions of the Act or the Rules. 25. The importance of the role of the State Government in such matters was recognized in St. Johns Teachers Training Institute v. Regional Director, National Council for Teacher Education and Anr. (2003) 3 SCC 321. In that case, vires of Regulation 5(e) and (f) of the 1995 Regulations was challenged insofar as they incorporated the requirement of obtaining NOC from the State Government. A learned Single Judge of the Karnataka High Court held that Regulation 5(e) and (f) were ultra vires the provisions of the Act. The order of the learned Single Judge was reversed by the Division Bench of the High Court. This Court referred to Section 14 of the Act and two clauses of Regulation 5, which were impugned in the writ petition filed by the Appellant and observed: Sub-section (3) of Section 14 casts a duty upon the Regional Committee to be satisfied with regard to a large number of matters before passing an order granting recognition to an institution which has moved an application for the said purpose. The factors mentioned in Sub-section (3) are that the institution has adequate financial resources, accommodation, library, qualified staff, laboratory....
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....ls where student teachers can be exposed to demonstration lessons and can undertake practice teaching. Para 8 of the guidelines deals with financial resources, accommodation, library and other infrastructure of the institution which is desirous of starting a course of training and teacher education. The guidelines clearly pertain to the matters enumerated in Sub-section (3) of Section 14 of the Act which have to be taken into consideration by the Regional Committee while considering the application for granting recognition to an institution which wants to start a course for training in teacher education. The guidelines have also direct nexus to the object of the Act, namely, planned and coordinated development of teacher education system and proper maintenance of norms and standards. It cannot, therefore, be urged that the power conferred on the State Government or Union Territory, while considering an application for grant of an NOC, is an arbitrary or unchanneled power. The State Government or the Union Territory has to necessarily confine itself to the guidelines issued by the Council while considering the application for grant of an NOC. In case the State Government does not ta....
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.... what has been prescribed by AICTE for admission to engineering courses and no fault can be found with such a provision. 27. In Govt. of A.P. and Anr. v. J.B. Educational Society and Anr. (2005) 3 SCC 212, this Court considered the question whether the provision contained in Section 20(3)(a)(i) of the Andhra Pradesh Education Act, 1982 under which obtaining of permission of the State Government was made sine qua non for starting an institution for Teacher Training Course was ultra vires the provisions of the All India Council for Technical Education Act, 1987 and the Regulations framed thereunder. While rejecting the challenge, the Court referred to Articles 245, 246 and 254(2) and Entries 66 of List-I and 25 of List-III of Seventh Schedule to the Constitution and observed: The provisions of the AICTE Act are intended to improve technical education and the various authorities under the Act have been given exclusive responsibility to coordinate and determine the standards of higher education. It is a general power given to evaluate, harmonise and secure proper relationship to any project of national importance. Such a coordinate action in higher education with proper standard is ....