ORDER
1. This Writ Petition is to quash the order dated 19/21-3-1994 Annexure 'D' and order dated 7-5-1994 Annexure 'E' issued by the second respondent University rejecting the eligibility and Admission of 20 students to the I Year B.Sc., Nursing Course for the academic year 1993-94 in their College.
2. The petitioner is an Educational Trustwhich is running number of educational Institutions. In order to start the B.Sc., Nursing Course, the petitioner made an application to the respondents for grant of affiliation to start the above Course from the academic year 1993-94. On the said application, the second respondent University made a recommendation to the State Government by a letter dated 1-4-1993 to grant permission to the petitioner Trust to start B.Sc., Nursing Course from the academic year 1993-94. On the basis of the above recommendation the first respondent Government has passed an order evidenced by Annexure 'A' dated 17-9-1993 according sanction to the petitioner to start a College on certain conditions, with an intake capacity of 40 students from the academic year 1993-94. The petitioner further stated in the Writ Petition that, before making a recommendation to the State Government, the University had appointed a Legal Enquiry Committee who inspected the College and that it is only thereafter, that the second respondent made a recommendation to the Government. On the basis of the Government Order Annexure 'A' the petitioner admitted 20 students to the I Year B. Sc., Nursing Course for the academic year 1993-94 from 14-12-1993 to 21-12-1993. Thus, the petitioner alleges that all the requirements of Section 53 of the Karnataka Universities Act, 1976 are complied with and the issue of affiliation letter was only a formality, but the second respondent did not grant affiliation till February, 1994. The petitioner made an application to the second respondent requesting for the issue of affiliation letter, to the petitioner, on 23-2-1994 evidenced by Annexure 'B'. In the meanwhile, by Annexure 'C' letter dated 15-3-1994, the Indian Nursing Council, New Delhi, also accorded its approval for the petitioner for starting the B.Sc., Nursing Course. Thereafter, the petitioner submitted the list of students admitted by them to the I Year B.Sc., Nursing Course for the year 1993-94 for approval, but the second respondent by its letter dated 21-3-1994 evidenced by Annexure 'D' rejected the admission of the students to the I Year B.Sc., Nursing Course, on the ground that the University has not grantedaffiliation to the petitioner's College for the academic year 1993-94 and that the admissions were made after the last date fixed by the Government, viz., 31-12-1993. Accordingly, the admissions made by the petitioners were rejected and the eligibility application submitted by the petitioner was returned. In the meanwhile, the petitioner was making efforts to get the affiliation from the University. The petitioner also sent the list of students admitted by it and requested for permitting them to appear for the 1 year Examination commencing from 1-8-1994. By Annexure 'E' communication, the second respondent University returned the list along with its letter dated 7-5-1994 on the ground that, by a Notification dated 7-4-1994, affiliation has been granted to the petitioner's College only from the academic year 1994-95 and not from 1993-94. The petitioner has produced the above letter as Annexure 'E' and the list of students as Annexure 'E-1'. The petitioner again wrote a letter dated 21-6-1994 to the second respondent to reconsider their position which is evidenced by Annexure 'P letter. However, no action has been taken by the second respondent on the above representation and the annual examination of 1993-94 of B.Sc. Nursing Course is scheduled to commence shortly and accordingly, this Writ Petition was filed by the petitioner challenging Annexures 'D' and 'E' orders where the admission made by the petitioner to the I Year B.Sc., Nursing Course for the year 1993-94 was rejected by the University. The main grounds taken by the petitioner are that the University itself has recommended to the State Government for according approval to the petitioner for starting B.Sc., Nursing Course from the year 1993-94 and on that basis, the State Government having granted approval, no further question of granting affiliation to the petitioner's College arises. By Annexure 'A' order, permission was granted by the State Government to the petitioner to start the College in 1993-94 and the admissions should have been approved by the University. It is further contended that the admissions were made between 14-12-1993 and 31-12-1993 which is well before the last date of admissions and the University shouldhave approved and accepted the list of students sent by the petitioner. On these grounds, the petitioner has prayed for quashing Annexures 'D' and 'E' orders and 10 direct the second respondent to grant affiliation to the petitioner's Nursing College from the academic year 1993-94 and to accept the admission of 20 students of the petitioner's institution as shown in Annexure 'El' for B.SC., Nursing Course for 1993-94.
3. By an order dated 26-7-1994, this Court directed Sri S.S. Koti, learned Standing Counsel for the second respondent to lake notice and the Government Pleader was also directed to take notice on behalf of the first respondent. I heard the learned Counsel for the petitioner as also the learned Counsel for respondents 1 and 2 and as there is no dispute on the facts and the question to be decided will purely depend upon interpretation of Section 53 of the Karnataka Universities Act, 1 heard the matter finally.
4. The sole question for consideration in this writ petition is as to whether the petitioner was justified in admitting students to the I Year B.Sc,, Nursing Course before affiliation was granted by the University. The petitioner is basing his case on Annexure 'A' order passed by the Government granting permission to the petitioner to start a College of Nursing in Raichur from the academic year 1993-94 with intake capacity of 40 students on certain terms and conditions. According to the petitioner, it is on the basis of Annexure 'A' order of the Government that they admitted students. A true translation of Annexure 'A' order was also produced by the petitioner.
5. Section 53 of the Karnataka State Universities Act, 1976 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') as amended by Act 23/86 provides for affiliation of Colleges and recognition of Institutions. Detailed procedure for affiliation of a College is provided in that Section. Sub-clause (1) of Section 53 provides that, Colleges within the University Area may be affiliated to the University as affiliated colleges by the University on the recommendations made by the State Government. Sub-clause (2) of Section 53 mentions the procedure for making an application for affiliation lo the University, to the Registrar within the time limit fixed by Ordinances and shall satisfy certain conditions. Sub-clause (3) of Section 53 provides that the application shall further contain an assurance in regard to the transfer of Management etc., Sub-clause (4) of Section 53 provides that, when such an application is received by the University, the Syndicate shall direct a local inquiry to be made by a competent person or persons authorised by the Syndicate in respect of the matters which they deem necessary and relevant for considering the application and can also make further enquiry as may appear to them as necessary. Thereafter, the Syndicate shall record its opinion after consulting the Academic Council on the question whether the application should be granted or refused, either in whole or in part, stating the result of any inquiry made by the competent person or any further enquiry which they held. Sub-clauses (5) and (6) are relevant for the purpose of this case which I shall reproduce below:
'(5) The Registrar shall, within such time as the Government may from time to time specify, submit the application and all proceedings, if any, of the Academic Council and of the Syndicate relating thereto to the State Government which after such inquiry as may appear to it to be necessary shall make their recommendations for the grant of the application or any part thereof or refuse the application or any part thereof and the University shall issue orders accordingly.'
'(6): Where the application or any part thereof is granted, the order of the University shall specify the courses of instruction in respect of which and the period for which the college is affiliated, and where the application or any part thereof is refused, by the State Government or the University the grounds of such refusal shall be stated.
Provided that on the recommendation of the State Government permanent affiliation may be granted to a college which was affiliated continuously for a period of not less than five years and fulfilled all the conditions of affiliation and attained the academic andadministrative standards prescribed by the University from time to time.'
(Underlining is mine)
Sub-clause (5) provides that the Registrar shall submit the application and all proceedings taken under the previous sub-sections to the State Government. Thereafter, the State Government shall make such enquiry as it deemed to be necessary in the case and shall make their recommendations to the University in regard to the matter of granting of the application either in part or in full or may recommend to refuse the application. Sub-clause (5) further provides that on the State Government making the recommendation, the University shall issue orders accordingly. Sub-clause (6) provides that, when an application for affiliation or any part thereof is granted by an order of the University it shall specify the course of instructions in respect of which affiliation is granted and also period for which the College is affiliated. The sub-clause further provides that, where the application or any part thereof is refused by the State Government or the University, grounds shall be mentioned.
6. On a reading of the above three subsections, viz., (4) to (6), it is absolutely clear that the Syndicate has to make an enquiry into the matter and shall record its opinion after consulting the Academic Council on the application for affiliation. Thereafter, the matter shall be submitted to the State Government and they after making any enquiry, shall make ifs recommendations to the University either to grant the affiliation either in full or in part or to refuse the same. The University shall act according to the Government. It is absolutely clear from sub-sec. (1) and sub-section (5) of Section 53 of the Act that the power of the State Government is only to make a recommendation whether to grant affiliation or not and the affiliation has to be granted by the University under subsection (6) of Section 53 in accordance with the recommendations made by the State Government. Sub-section (6) further provides that it is the University which has io specify the course of instruction, in respect of which, affiliation is granted and the period for whichthe College is affiliated. It is absolutely clear that the University has the jurisdiction or authority to fix the period for which the affiliation is granted. The power of the Government is only to make a recommendation as to whether affiliation should be granted or not and it has no power to determine the period for which the affiliation is granted. Section 53(10a) clearly provides that no student shall be admitted by a new college seeking affiliation to any University unless affiliation has been granted to the College for such course of study.
7. This being the legal position, it is to be considered as to whether the petitioner was justified in admitting the students even before affiliation was granted by the University. No doubt, by Annexure 'A' order, the Government granted permission to the petitioner Trust to start B.Sc., Nursing Course from the academic year 1993-94 with an intake capacity of 40 students. It is regrettable to note that the Government has misread the provisions of Section 53 of the Act and has not taken note of the amendments made to the Section by 1986 Amendment. Under Section 53 of the Act, the power to grant affiliation is not to the Government but the power is only to make a recommendation under sub-section (5) of Section 53. Instead of that the Government has passed an order Annexure 'A' granting permission as if they are according permission under Section 53 of the Act as it stood before 1986 Amendment. Rightly, the University treated Annexure 'A' order as a recommendation by them under Section 53(5) of the Act and granted affiliation to the petitioner-institution for the year 1994-95. As stated earlier, the jurisdiction and authority to specify the period for which the College is affiliated, exclusively vests in the University under Section 53(6) of the Act and the Government has no power to fix the period while making the recommendation. It is clear from the Notification of the University dated 7-4-1994 that they granted affiliation to the petitioner's institution only from the Academic year 1994-95 and by virtue of the prohibit ion contained in Section 53(10) of the Act, the petitioner was not entitled to admitstudents before affiliation was granted to the College. Perhaps, they might have been misled by the Government order Annexure 'A' but that is no answer against the bar under Section 53(10) of the Act.
8. It was submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that, on the basis of Annexure 'A' order, they admitted 20 students and that they have completed I year. No doubt, the students might lose one year of their study due to the fact that the petitioners admitted them even before affiliation was granted. Students were not at fault but this Court should not be carried away by sympathies when such admissions are clearly prohibited by the provisions contained in the Act (See Section 53(10) of the Act.) Moreover, I find that many institutions give admission to students in this State even before affiliation or permission is granted by the appropriate authorities on the very making of an application for that purpose without waiting for the grant of affiliation. By such practice, it is the poor students who are in trouble and such tendency on the part of the Management has to be stopped with a strong hand. In this case, petitioners should not have admitted students before affiliation was granted by the University as Section 53(10) prohibits admission of any students until affiliation has been granted to the College in respect of a Course of study. The order Annexure 'A' passed by the Government on a misreading of Section 53 of the Act cannot be treated as equivalent to grant of affiliation which is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the University. As stated earlier, T should not be carried away by sympathies when there is clear prohibition in the University Act that no student shall be admitted before affiliation is granted. In that view of the matter, the petitioner is not entitled to any relief in this writ petition.
9. Before parting with this case, I have to observe that the State Government is passing orders under Section 53 of the Act ignoring the amendments made in the Act by 1986 Amendment Act. It is no doubt true that,before the 1986 Amendment, power of granting affiliation vested in he Government on the recommendation of the University. When affiliation is to be granted by the State Government, power vested with them to specify the period for which the College is to be affiliated. But it is to be remembered that, after the 1986 Amendment, the position has been reversed and it is the University that has to grant affiliation and to specify the period for which affiliation has to be granted on the recommendation of the State Government. 1 find that the State Government are often passing orders on matters of affiliation of Colleges under Section 53 of the Act, as if they have power to grant affiliation and even fix the period for which affiliation is granted as is seen from Annexure 'A' order in this case. It is to be brought to the notice of the concerned authorities of the Government that the power to grant affiliation and to fix the period of affiliation is only for the University and that the power of the Government under Section 53 of the Aet as amended in 1986 is only to make a recommendation regarding affiliation. If the procedure of granting affiliation is followed by the State Government instead of making a recommendation in the matter even after the amendment it may mislead persons like the petitioners which may in turn affect the career of the students.
10. As I have held that admission of the students for 1993-94 is not valid, the students are not entitled to sit for the Examination in August, 1994, but the University having affiliated the College for the academic year 1994-95, the petitioners may continue them as students for the year 1994-95 when there is admittedly affiliation in their favour.
In view of what is stated above, I dismiss the Writ Petition subject to above observations.
11. Petition dismissed.