Colleges awaiting affiliation can’t take in students: Supreme Court

Private colleges awaiting affiliation from the university concerned cannot admit students to various courses and put the career of students in jeopardy, the Supreme Court has held.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh said, “Admitting students pending affiliation has become a disease, and when the conduct becomes a disaster, it is a disastrous phenomenon. Time and again this court had deprecated the practice of educational institutions admitting students without requisite recognition or affiliation.”

Writing the judgment, Justice Misra said, “Though the ultimate victims are innocent students, that cannot be a ground for granting relief to the college.”

The bench pointed out that adherence to the schedule of the admission process from the time of submission of application for affiliation till it is granted by the university is the essence of granting admission in a fair and transparent manner as well as to maintain the standard of education.

In the instant case, the management committee of Anuragi Devi Degree College was granted provisional affiliation for three years from 2012-13 to 2014-15. Even as the application for renewal of permanent affiliation was pending for 2015-16 with Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur, UP, it admitted students. The Allahabad high court declined to recognise the admission of students admitted without affiliation and the present appeal is directed against this judgment.