SC brings University-affiliated colleges running MBA course under AICTE

On Friday, after passing the interim order, the top court put the matter for consideration in April, 2020

The Supreme Court has for now brought all institutions and University-affiliated colleges under the regulatory regime of the All India Council for Technical Education, with regard to MBA course run by them.

A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant passed an order on Friday, on a writ petition filed by Education Promotion Society of India, a registered group of 1354 educational institutions.

In a brief hearing, senior advocate Navniti Prarsad Singh, and advocate Devashish Bharuka, for the petitioner, and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, on behalf of Union government, agreed for some interim arrangement until the top court finally decided the issue.

“There shall be an interim arrangement in terms of the order of Janaury 06, 2016 passed by this court,” the bench said.

A legal vacuum was created with regard to MBA course run by the colleges affiliated to Universities due to a series of judgements by the top court.

The SC, in the case of 'Bharathidasan University Vs AICTE' (2010), held that the University does not come within the purview of technical institution and thus cannot be regulated by the AICTE.

Subsequently, in case of 'Association of Management of Private Colleges Vs AICTE' (2013), the SC ruled that even colleges affiliated to a University is outside the regulatory regime and that MBA course is not a part of technical education.

Afterwards, in case of 'Orissa Technical Colleges Association Vs AICTE' (2016), the top court permitted the AICTE to continue regulating technical institutions, imparting management and MBA courses till further orders.

But this matter got dismissed due to non-prosecution, leaving the institutions, whether affiliated to a University or not, on its own terms without any regulatory regime.

The petitioner claimed institutions of Universities, running management courses were completely unregulated, warranting an urgent need to bring them under a legal regime to avoid commercialisation of education.