St. Pauls College v. National Council For Teacher Education & ANR.

$~A-16 *

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

+ W.P.(C) 3748/2020 and CM Appls. No. 13428/2020 ST. PAULS COLLEGE ..... Petitioner Through Mr.Shlok Chandra and Mr.Harsh Choudhry, Advs.

versus NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR TEACHER EDUCATION & ANR.

..... Respondents Through Ms.Arunima Dwivedi, Standing Counsel for R-1 & 2.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JAYANT NATH

O R D E R

% 06.07.2020 This hearing is conducted through Video-Conferencing. 1.

The case of the petitioner is that the WRC granted recognition to the petitioner college for running B.Ed. Course with an intake of 100 students under Section 14 of the NCTE Act, 1993. Subsequently, the WRC in its 255th meeting decided to issue a show cause notice to a number of institutions like the petitioner college for alleged non-compliance of the regulations. A show cause notice was also issued to the petitioner for nonsubmission of staff profile and original notarized building requirements. On 19.09.2016, the petitioner responded to the show cause notice. After a gap of three years, on 19.08.2019 the WRC in its 310th meeting decided to

withdraw the recognition granted to the petitioner college under Section 17(1) of the NCTE Act.

2.

An appeal was filed before the NCTE under Section 18 of the NCTE Act. By an order dated 17.02.2020, the Appeal Committee notes that the order has been passed by the WRC three years after issue of show case notice. The Committee also noted that different address are mentioned on the land and building documents which perhaps indicates that the permission was granted to the petitioner for a different building. The Appeal Committee remanded the matter back to the WRC for fresh consideration. 3.

Learned counsel for the petitioner has made two submissions. He firstly submits that once the matter has been remanded back to the WRC, the original order of the WRC dated 04.09.2019 automatically stands abrogated/set aside. He further submits that even otherwise, as per the order of the WRC, the recognition of the petitioner continues till March 2021. He states that despite this, the name of the petitioner has been removed from the website which contains the name of the recognized colleges. 4.

I have heard learned counsel for the parties. 5.

As far as the first plea raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner is concerned, it is manifest that once the matter is remanded back to the WRC by the Appeal Committee, the WRC would be obliged to re-consider the case of the petitioner afresh uninfluenced by the earlier order passed on 04.09.2019 and keeping into account the observations of the Appeal Committee. The WRC, keeping into account that the matter pertains to a show cause notice of 2016, may expeditiously deal with the case of the petitioner.

6.

As far as the second argument of the learned counsel for the petitioner

is concerned, namely, the deletion of the name of the petitioner from the concerned website from the list of recognized institutes, a perusal of the withdrawal order under Section 17(1) of the NCTE Act dated 04.09.2019 shows that the WRC chose to withdraw the recognition under Section 17 of the NCTE Act for B.Ed. Programme with effect from the end of the academic session next following the date of the said order. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that in effect it means that the order would take effect only w.e.f. from the next academic year when the impugned order was passed, namely, the recognition would continue for the academic year 202021. 7.

The above plea is not denied by the learned counsel for the respondent.

8.

In view of the above fact, there is apparently no cogent reason why the name of the petitioner college has been deleted from the list of recognized institutes. The name of the petitioner college be restored forthwith in the said list. This direction will be subject to further orders that the WRC may pass.

9.

In view of the above, nothing further survives in the matter. The petition is accordingly disposed of.

Pending application also stands disposed of.

JAYANT NATH, J JULY 06, 2020 rb