Ravi Shankar College Of Education v. National Council For Teacher Education & ANR.

$~A-7 *

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

+ W.P.(C) 5251/2020 RAVI SHANKAR COLLEGE OF EDUCATION ..... Petitioner Through Mr. Sanjay Sharawat, Adv.

versus NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR TEACHER EDUCATION AND ANR.

... Respondents Through Ms.

Arunima Dwivedi, Standing Counsel for NCTE.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JAYANT NATH

O R D E R

% 14.08.2020 This hearing is conducted through video conferencing. CM APPL. 18919/2020 Allowed subject to all just exceptions.

W.P.(C) 5251/2020 & CM APPL. 18918/2020 1.

This writ petition is filed by the petitioner seeking a direction to hold that the order dated 15.07.2020 passed by respondent No.1 necessarily and impliedly annuls the impugned order dated 05.09.2019 passed by respondent No.2 by which the recognition of the petitioner for B.Ed. course was withdrawn.

2.

The petitioner was granted recognition on 25.08.2009 for B.Ed. course. In 2015 after notifications of new regulations, NCTE issued guidelines for all institutions. A revised recognition order was also issued on 31.05.2015. The case of the petitioner is that in compliance of the revised recognition order the petitioner submitted the required documents to WRC in 2016. A show cause notice was issued to the petitioner on 31.01.2017.

The petitioner submitted a reply to the said show cause notice on 18.02.2017.

The withdrawal order was however passed by WRC on 05.09.2019 on the ground of non-submission of reply to the show cause notice dated 31.01.2017. Aggrieved by the said order, the petitioner filed a statutory appeal before NCTE on 05.11.2019. By the impugned order dated 15.07.2020, the Appellate Authority has accepted the contentions of the petitioner and has remanded the matter back to WRC. The grievance of the petitioner is that the impugned order passed by WRC dated 05.09.2019 has not been quashed and the matter has simply been remanded back to WRC by the Appellate Authority to reconsider its decision based on the documents supplied by the petitioner.

3.

Learned counsel for the petitioner relies upon the judgment of a coordinate bench of this court dated 10.07.2019 passed in W.P.(C) No. 7365/2019, titled as Anjuman College of Education vs. National Council for Teacher Education & Anr. to submit that in these circumstances the impugned order of WRC withdrawing recognition dated 09.08.2019 should have been quashed by the Appellate Authority. 4.

A perusal of the impugned order dated 15.07.2020 shows that it notes the contentions of the petitioner that the show cause notice that was issued by the letter dated 31.01.2017, which was replied by the petitioner on 18.02.2017 enclosing therewith list of faculty which was not countersigned by the affiliating university. The Appellate Authority thereafter decided that the petitioner may submit all the authenticated copies of documents to WRC within 15 days and WRC shall on receiving required documents re-visit the matter and issue appropriate revised orders.

5.

Learned counsel for the respondents states that WRC will be taking a

decision shortly and hence there are no reasons to pass any orders in favour of the petitioner.

6.

Learned counsel for the petitioner has strenuously urged counselling for the next academic session has commenced from 05.08.2020 and the name of the petitioner institution is missing from the list of authorized institutions. He submits that on account of the act of the Appellate Authority, grave prejudice is being caused to the petitioner which is an institution of more than 10 years of standing. 7.

Reference may be had to the order of this court dated 08.05.2019 in W.P.(C) No. 4959/2019, titled as HICT Shiksha Mahavidyalaya vs. National Council for Teacher Education & Anr. passed by a co-ordinate bench which reads as follows:

"....

3. It is axiomatic, in law, that quashing of the order in appeal has necessarily to precede remand of the matter to the original authority.

4. In view thereof, I deem it appropriate to dispose of this writ petition, at this stage itself, by clarifying that the order dated 11th March, 2019, passed by the Appellate Committee in the NCTE, would be treated as quashing the withdrawal order dated 25th September, 2018 of the WRC, and, consequently, remanding the matter to the WRC for a reconsideration." 8.

In view of the above, in my opinion, the net effect of the order of the Appellate Authority dated 15.07.2020 is that the order passed by WRC dated 05.09.2019 stands quashed. It is ordered accordingly. The WRC is free to take its decision as per law based on the documents submitted by the petitioner.

9.

Accordingly, the writ petition is disposed of. All pending applications,

if any, be also disposed of. All consequential reliefs will be granted to the petitioner including participation in the on-going counselling for academic session 2020-21.

JAYANT NATH, J.

AUGUST 14, 2020/v