Shree M.D.S M.Ed College & ANR. v. National Council For Teacher Education & ANR.
$~92 *
IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(C) 3760/2026 SHREE M.D.S M.ED COLLEGE & ANR.
.....Petitioner Through:
Mr. Amitesh Kumar, Ms. Priti Kumari, Mr. Pankaj Kumar Ray, Advocates versus NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR TEACHER EDUCATION & ANR. .....Respondent Through:
Mr. Anuj Kapoor, Mr. Shivom Sethi, Mr. Nandeesh Nanda, Mr. Kshitiz, Advs. for R1
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JASMEET SINGH
O R D E R
% 24.03.2026 1.
This is a writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking the following prayers:- "(i) issue a writ of mandamus or any other suitable writ, order or direction to respondents to comply with common final judgment & order dated 24.08.2022 passed in Writ Petition (C) No.6831/2021 and to open the online web portal permitting submission of online application by petitioners for M.Ed. course under clause 5 of NCTE (Recognition Norms & Procedure) Regulations, 2014 for the academic year 2027-28; and/or (ii) issue a writ of mandamus or any other suitable writ, order or direction to Western Regional Committee The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.
(WRC) to process and decide the application of petitioners for M.Ed. course for academic session 202728; . . ." 2.
For the reasons stated in the petition, issue notice. 3.
Mr. Kapoor, learned counsel accepts notice on behalf of the respondents and has drawn my attention to an Order dated 31.01.2023 passed in LPA 507/2022 titled "National Council for Teacher Education vs. Mehta Teacher Training College" by the Hon'ble Division Bench, wherein paragraph Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 read as under:- "2. Mr. Balbir Singh, learned ASG, and Mr. Sanjay Sharawat, learned Counsel for the Applicant/Respondent, in unison, contend that there is ambiguity regarding the issue as to whether the learned Single Judge could re-hear the entire matter or should he confine himself to the new documents which have been permitted to be filed since this Court has not set aside the Judgment dated 24.08.2022, passed by the learned Single Judge in W.P.(C)2813/2021. Both parties represent that in order to avoid this controversy and in order to give finality to the entire issue it would be expedient in the interest of justice that this Court itself decides the appeal on merits.
3. Learned Counsel for the Respondents submit that they have no objection if the additional documents filed by the Appellant are accepted by this Court.
4. In the interest of justice and in view of the joint request The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.
made by learned Counsel for the parties, this Court is inclined to accede to the prayer made by both sides to recall the Order dated 18.11.2022.
5. Resultantly, the application is allowed. LPA 507/2022 is restored to its original number.
6. The application is disposed of."
4.
He further states that in the present case, the matter is pending before the Hon'ble Division Bench and therefore the Court should defer the hearing of the present matter until the matter is conclusively adjudicated.
5.
I have heard learned counsels for the parties and perused the documents placed on record.
6.
A Coordinate Bench of this Court decided a batch of writ petitions, one of them being W.P.(C) 2813/2021 titled "Mehta Teacher Training College vs. National Council for Teacher Education & Anr." and vide judgment dated 24.08.2022 directed as under: "50. I am therefore, of the view, that looked at from any angle, the petitions deserve to be allowed. The writ petitions are, accordingly, allowed by directing the respondents to open the online portal within two weeks and thereafter accept and process in a timely manner, the applications, as may be submitted for grant of recognition for conducting new teaching courses for the academic session 2022-23." 7.
The said judgment was modified vide Order dated 31.08.2022 and paragraph Nos. 4 and 5 of the said Order read as under: "4. Accordingly, paragraph no.50 of the judgment is The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.
corrected and will now read as:- "I am therefore, of the view, that looked at from any angle, the petitions deserve to be allowed. The writ petitions are, accordingly, allowed by directing the respondents to open the online portal within two weeks and thereafter accept and process in a timely manner, the applications, as may be submitted for grant of recognition for conducting new teaching courses for the academic session 2023-24."
5. Insofar as Mr. Sharawat's prayer that it may be clarified that the judgment will apply in rem and will therefore be applicable to all affected parties is concerned, I am of the considered view that no clarification in this regard is required. The judgment is clear on this aspect and does not restrict the right of submitting applications only to the petitioners."
8.
Further, the Hon'ble Division Bench vide Order dated 07.05.2024 in LPA 507/2022 held as under:
"4. Although the applications will be processed, no final decision will be taken on the applications preferred by the respondents till the disposal of the appeals." 9.
Most importantly, in the 59th General Body Meeting of the National Council for Teacher Education ("NCTE") held on 04.12.2023, the NCTE considered this relevant issue and resolved as under: "2. In this regard, the following facts are submitted: • The NCTE has already introduced ITEP at UG level in The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.
alignment with NEP 2020. With regard to PG level, the programme is presently under formulation and may take time.
• NCTE is also receiving requests to allow the processing of returned applications for the Master's Degree programmes such as M.Ed. and M.P .Ed.
• At present the sanctioned annual intake of M.P.Ed. course 7,375 and M.Ed. is 60,730 only. Whereas the total sanctioned intake of teacher education programmes other than these two PG courses is 19,02,398. Therefore, a sizeable number of M.Ed. and M.P.Ed. qualified candidates are required to cater the need of the Teacher Educators for the existing TEIs.
• The ITEP is an undergraduate programme.
The candidates intend to pursue their Masters/Doctoral degree in the field of Education may require the PG programmes in the discipline. Therefore, the M.P.Ed. and M.Ed. shall provide avenues for them to specifically undergo the Master's degree.
3. As per decision taken by the General Body of the NCTE in its 55th meeting held on 14th July 2022, the following applications submitted by the institutions for M.Ed. & M.P.Ed. course were returned to the institutions: The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.
4. Keeping in view of the above facts and circumstances, the proposal for modification of the decision taken by the General Body of the NCTE in its 55th meeting held on 14th July 2022 is required to be relaxed to process the applications for M.Ed. & M.P.Ed. course/s which were returned to the institutions."
(Emphasis added) 10.
In view of the Order dated 07.05.2024 read with the minutes of the 59th General Body Meeting of the NCTE held on 04.12.2023, the NCTE itself has resolved to relax the application process for M.Ed. and M.P.Ed. courses, which had been earlier returned to the institutions.
11.
For the said reasons, there is no impediment in this Court directing the respondents to open the online portal within a period of 2 weeks from today and allow submitting of the applications and its processing. 12.
However, no final decision shall be taken on these applications till further Orders in LPA 507/2022 are passed.
13.
The petition is disposed of in the aforesaid terms, along with pending applications, if any.
JASMEET SINGH, J MARCH 24, 2026 / (MS) The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.