Crack down on deemed varsities
The Supreme Court on Friday came down heavily on deemed universities, berating the University Grants Commission for its failure to regulate them, and restraining them from carrying on any courses in distance education mode from the 2018-19 academic session.
A Bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and U U Lalit also suspended the engineering degrees awarded by these universities between 2001 and 2005 and cancelled the engineering degrees awarded by them after that.
It directed the UGC to restrain "Deemed to be Universities" from using the word "university" within one month. It also asked the Centre to set up a 3-member committee of eminent persons within one month to draw up a road map for setting up an oversight and regulatory mechanism for higher education and allied matters within six months.
Asking the Centre to act upon such a committee's report within one month and file an affidavit before the court before August 31, the court fixed 11.09.2018 for consideration of this aspect.
Ordering a CBI probe into the UGC officials' connivance in granting permissions to these universities against government policy, the court
asked the commission to conduct an inquiry by June 30 to decide on withdrawal of the "deemed to be university" status enjoyed by the four culprit universities, two of them from Rajasthan.
It passed strictures against Janardan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth, Udaipur, Institute of Advanced Studies in Education, Sardarshahr, the two deemed universities in Rajasthan, as also Allahabad Agricultural Institute, Allahabad, and Vinayak Mission Research Foundation, Tamil Nadu, for offering correspondence courses as distance education through hundreds of study centres beyond their jurisdiction.
How the case came up to the Apex Court also makes interesting reading. One Rabi Sankar Patro, a diploma holder in electrical engineering, secured B Tech (Civil) from JRN Rajasthan in 2009 through distance education and then moved the Orissa High Court against the Orissa Lift Irrigation Corporation fo not promoting him. The Orissa High Court ruled in his favour, recognising the degree awarded to him by JRN.
In a similar case, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had declared such a degree as not valid. The Apex Court ruled on the judgments of both the High Courts while disposing of as many as 42 petitions.