Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court has upheld the regulations issued by the All India Council for Technical Education for online self-disclosure for grant extension to technical education institutions without undertaking physical verification.
A division bench comprising Justice V. Ramasubramanian and Justice J. Uma Devi dismissed a petition by Federation of Social Responsibility Professional Institutions of the city, challenging regulations 4.19 (a) and 4.26 of the AICTE (Grant of Approvals for Technical Institutions) Regulations, 2016.
Regulation 4.19 (a) stipulates that processing of applications is based on self-disclosure and only if there is Zero Deficiency, the system will allot the intake applied for, as per the Approval Process Handbook.
As per Regulation 4.26, the Council is obliged to grant the desired approvals only after confirming that the applicant meets all norms and standards prescribed in the Handbook and the Council reserved the right to inspect the institutions, which made self-disclosure.
The petitioner contended that it was dangerous to grant extension of approvals based upon self-disclosure without undertaking physical verification.
The petitioner told the court that many institutes made false disclosures, which resulted in universities refusing approvals for the courses, even after the grant of permission by AICTE, and that most institutes did not meet the norms and standards fixed by the AICTE. Those institutes stand to benefit by these regulations.
The bench pointed out that “no statutory regulations can be challenged merely on the ground that there is possibility of misuse. There are so many legislations, which, by their very nature, are prone to misuse. But that cannot be a ground to test the vires of a statutory regulation”.
The bench noted that “there has been a mushrooming of educational institutions imparting technical education in the country. It is impossible for the AICTE, with a humble team of experts, to visit all institutions and examine applications for approval/extension of approval, before the deadline fixed by the Supreme Court for every academic year”.
The bench made it clear that if a Regulatory Body imposes a greater responsibility, accountability and obligation upon an institute, the same “cannot be faulted by suspecting the credentials of all the educational institutions”.
The bench said: “Even under the tax regime, self-assessment is prevailing now. Therefore, the prescription of a self-disclosure online is a matter of necessity. We do not find the same to be either in violation of the statute or in excess of the power delegated to the AICTE.”
