Universities can set higher standards than the ones prescribed by AICTE, says SC

The Supreme Court on Thursday said while universities cannot dilute the standards prescribed by AICTE, they certainly have the power to stipulate enhanced norms and standards for their colleges.

"Ultimately, it is the universities which are obliged to issue degrees and whose reputation is inextricably intertwined with the fate and performance of the students, that may have to face the music and hence their role cannot be belittled," a bench presided over by Chief Justice S A Bobde said.

The bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, said though the AICTE had the power to conduct inspections and take penal actions against colleges, the students were mostly left in the lurch.

"It does not mean anything and does not serve any purpose for the students who get admitted to colleges which have necessary infrastructure only on paper and not on site. The regulations of the AICTE are silent as to how the students will get compensated when penal action is taken against colleges which host false information online in their applications to AICTE," the bench said.

The top court allowed an appeal by the A P J Abdul Kalam Technological University and set aside a judgement by the Kerala High Court which had held that a varsity cannot go beyond AICTE Regulations in granting recognition to an engineering college.

"No state-run university can afford to have a laid-back attitude today when their own performance is being measured by international standards. Therefore, the power of the universities to prescribe enhanced norms and standards, cannot be doubted," the bench said.

The court pointed out that at present, even the universities are being ranked according to the quality of standards maintained by them.

The Ministry of Human Resources Development, now Ministry of Education, launched an initiative in September 2015, known as National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), for the categorisation of institutions, including universities, in the country on the basis of parameters like teaching, earning and resources; research and professional practice; graduation outcomes; outreach and inclusivity; and peer perception.