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Judgment
By this writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner/Institution is praying for quashment of order dated 6/12/2016(Annexure-P/1) by which prayer for charging 50% of the affiliation fees from the petitioner Samiti and to adjust the amount of affiliation fees already deposited by the petitioner Samiti has been rejected.
Brief facts of the case are that the petitioner is a Society registered under the Society Registrikaran Adhiniyam, 1973 and is running educational institutions with the name of Victoria College of Education & Sahib Institute of Management & Research at village ? Morod, Tehsil & District Indore.
According to the petitioner, the petitioner Samiti is paying 100% affiliation fees, however, it is entitled to exemption from payment of 100% affiliation fees because Statute No.27 of the University provides for fee criteria and as per Clause 13(3) the Colleges/Institutions located in ''sub-district level'' are liable to pay 50% of the affiliation fees. Village Morod, where the petitioner society is running its institutions, is rural area and 3 km away from the Municipal limits of Indore.
The object of relaxation in paying affiliation fees to the College/Institutions located in sub-district level is to encourage the Educational Institutions to impart quality education in rural areas.
The petitioner Samiti is running its college at village ? Morod, Tehsil & District Indore which is located in sub-district level and, therefore, it is liable to pay 50% of the affiliation fees whereas the respondents are charging 100% affiliation fees from the petitioner Samiti.
Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that Clause 13(3) of the Statute No.27 deals in respect of affiliation fees which prescribe that Rs.5,000/- per Faculty shall be the affiliation fee for bachelor''s degree other than professional courses and Rs.10,000/- per subject for master''s Degree other than professional courses. Clause 13(3) further mandates that in the College/Institutions located in sub-district level, 50% of the fee mentioned above will be charged.
Learned counsel for the petitioner has also drawn our attention to the Building Permission (Annexure-P/4) granted by the Gram Panchayat, Morod and Certificate dated 7/06/2016(Annexure-P/3) issued by the Tehsildar, Indore in favour of the petitioner Society to the effect that it is running Educational Institutions at Village ? Morod, Tehsil & District ? Indore. The institution of the petitioner Society is 3 km away from the municipal limits of Indore City and, therefore,as per Clause 13(3) of Statute No.27, the petitioner Society is liable to pay 50% of the affiliation fee mentioned in Clause 13(3) (ii) of Statute No.27.
Clause 13(3) (ii) & (iii) of Statute No.27 reads as under :- Clause -13 - Every college admitted to the privileges of the University shall, during all the time it continue to enjoy such privileges comply, with all the provisions of the Adhiniyam, the Statutes, the Ordinances, the Regulations, and any orders, directions of Academic Council/Standing Committee of the Academic Council in so far as they apply to such college.
(3)(ii) - Every college or institution admitted to the privileges of the University shall pay to the University each year by the 31st July in continuation of annual affiliation fees at the rates mentioned below :-
(a) Rs.5000/- per Faculty for the Bachelor''s degree other than Professional courses, Rs.8000/- per faculty for Bachelor Degree/Diploma in Professional courses.
Where the affiliation of such colleges or institution is also n respect of Master''s degree, fee in addition thereto shall be payable at the mentioned below:-
Rs. 5000/- per subject in any of the Faculties covered by item (a) above other than Professional .
Rs.10000/- for P.G. Professional courses.
In the colleges/institutions located in subdistrict level,50% of the fee mentioned above will be charged.
(iii) If the fee payable under Sub-para 3(ii) is not paid by the date specified therein, the affiliation of the College or institution, may be withdrawn.
Provided that the Kulpati may permit the requisite fee to be paid together with an additional amount equal to 25% of the requisite fee within a period of three months from the date mentioned in Sub-para (3)(ii). In the case of such disaffiliation, the University may take such necessary steps as are feasible in the interest of the students.
As per reply filed by the respondent No.3, there stand is that the petitioner made an application for opening an institute within the peripheral area of Indore City and on the basis thereof as per Clause 2((1) (ii) of Statute No.27 was required to own 3 acres of land, otherwise if the institute is located in rural area or any other city/town except within the municipal limits of Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and Gwalior, the minimum land required is 5 acres. Therefore, the petitioner institute itself has sought the affiliation on that basis the petitioner institute is situated within the peripheral area of Indore district and holds 2.89 acres of land only. The aforesaid application was filed by the petitioner before the respondent No.2 and on the basis of the documents and application submitted by the petitioner, the No Objection Certificate is granted by the respondent No.2 and thereafter the recognition is granted by the respondent Nos.3 and 4.
The institute run by the petitioner is within Indore District and fulfills the norms with respect to owning the land prescribed for Indore city only. The application made by the petitioner was for opening of an institute in Indore itself, therefore, the NOC was granted by the respondent No.2 on the basis of the fact that the petitioner hold 2.89 acres of land. If the petitioner would have applied for opening an institute in rural area the minimum land required is 5 acres as per Statute 27.
The next stand of the University is that the relaxation is applicable for the institutes located in sub-districts level whereas the petitioner institute situate in Indore District, thus, is not entitled for the relaxation as per Clause (ii) of Clause ? 13 (3) of Statute 27. The institute run by by the petitioner Society cannot be considered to be located in sub-district level.
As per rejoinder filed by the petitioner, the petitioner/institute holds 2.89 Acres of land and as per Clause 2 (1) (ii) of the Statute No.27 if the institute is located in any other city/town except within the municipal limits of Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and Gwalior then it should have possessed at least 5 acres of land.
Clause 2 (1) ( ii) of the Statute No.27 reads as under :- (ii) The Society should have undisputed ownership and possession of land free from any or all encumbrances measuring nto less than 2 acres if it is located within Municipal Area of Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and Gwalior and 5 acres for all other City/Town."
Proviso attached to Clause ? 2 (1) (ii) of Statue No.27 provides that this sub-clause shall not apply to the Colleges already affiliated to the University. The Colleges run by the petitioner Society are affiliated to the respondent University since 2007.
Learned counsel for the petitioner has drawn our attention to Clause ? 2 (1) (xi) of Statute No.27 and submitted that the respondent No.3 and 4 University are not the Regulatory Authority to decide the matter. In the present case because it regulates Higher Education courses only whereas, the National Council for Teachers Education ( N.C.T.E.) is the Regulatory body for M.Ed., B.Ed., and D.EI.Ed. Course as it prescribes Norms and Standards for Bachelor of Education Programme. According to these norms, the Institutions shall possess 3500 Sq mts. of land for running teacher''s education programs in combination with B.Ed. Programme.
For M.B.A. Course, All India Council For technical Education (A.I.C.T.E.) is the Regulating Body which prescribes Norms for Land requirement and Building space for Technical Institution. According to the said norms, the Institute shall possess 1 Acre of land for Post Graduate Programs(MBA/MCA). Clause 4.1 (Annexure-P/12) reads as under :-
Program
Land Area requirement in Acres
UG Programs Diploma Stand alone Post Graduate Programs (MBA/MCA)
Mega and Metro * Urban Rural Mega and Metro* Urban Rural Mega and Metro* Urban Rural
Engineering & Technology $1.50 2.5# 7.5 $1.50 1.5 4 - - -
Pharmacy 0.75 0.75 2 0.75 0.75 2 - - -
Architectur e & Town Planning
a. Architecture b.Town Planning 11 11 2.5 2.5 11 11 2.5 2.5 - - -
Applied Arts & Crafts 0.75 0.75 2 0.75 0.75 2 - - -
HMCT 1 1 2.5 1 1 2.5 - - -
MCA - - - - - - 0.5 0.5 1.5
Management - - - - - - 0.5 0.5 1
The petitioner society is running D.El.Ed., B.Ed., M.Ed. and M.B.A. Course for which the Regulating bodies are N.C.T.E. and A.I.C.T.E. Respectively.
If the college run by the petitioner ? Society at Village Morod has been situated within the municipal limits of Indore then the respondent University would not have granted its affiliation because minimum land area required for opening an institute within the municipal limits of Indore is 3 acres only but the petitioner institute possesses 2.89 Acres of land.
In that event, the Building Permission would have been granted by the Indore Municipal Corporation and not by the Gram Panchayat, Morod as is done in the instant case.
Considering the aforesaid so also the fact that the College is situated at village Morod, which comes under the Gram Panchayat Morod and area of village Morod is outside the limit of Municipal Corporation, Indore and, thus, it cannot be said that the College is within Indore City though it is situated in Indore Tehsil, but outside the municipal limit of Municipal Corporation, Indore. Clause ? 13 (3) of Statute No.27 is very clear. As per proviso of 13(3) (ii), in the Colleges/Institutions located in subdistrict level, 50% of the fee mentioned above will be charged.
As per dictionary meaning, Sub-district is a low level administrative division of district. In other words, it is one of the Sub-division of the district.
In the present case, admittedly, College/Institution of the Petitioner Samiti comes within the "Sub-district level". The institution is not situated within the municipal area of Municipal Corporation, Indore and it comes under the Gram Panchayat, Morod.
As pointed out by the petitioner, similar benefit has been granted by the Barkatulla Viswavidhyalaya, Bhopal on 8/05/2016(Annexure-P/9) and Jiwaji Vishwavidhyala, Gwalior on 21/01/2013(Annexure-P/10).
Thus, we are of the view that the petitioner/institution comes within the purview of Clause 13(3) (ii) of Statute No.27 and, therefore, all the College/institutions of the petitioner Society which are located in Sub-District level, the University will charge 50% of the affiliation fee mentioned in the aforesaid clause.
In view of the aforesaid, Order dated 6/12/2016(Annexure- P/1) is liable to be quashed. Accordingly, it is quashed.
With the aforesaid, the writ petition filed by the petitioner is allowed. No costs.