IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE ELEVENTH DAY OF APRIL TWO THOUSAND AND FIVE PRESENT THE HON’BLE MS. JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION NOs.7006, 6949, 6950, 6951, 7077, 7125, 7132, & 7388 OF 2005 WRIT PETITION NO : 7006 of 2005 Between: 1 Greater Visakha Medicare Educational Society, Registerd at Visakhapatnam, rep. by its Correspondent, Syed Hamza Hussaini, S/o. S.A. Hussaini, Nellore. 2 Mother Theresa Educational Society, Raigir Village, Bhongir Mandal, Nalgonda District, rep. by its Correspondent, V.Jayachandra Reddy, S/o. Yerram Reddy, R/o. bhongir, Nalgonda District. 3 Badvel Higher & Technical Educational Society Nagarjupet, Cuddapah rep. by its Correspondent, T. Shiva Shankar Reddy, S/o. T. Ramachandra Reddy, aged 32 years. 4 St. Thomas Educational Soceity, Tiruvur Village and Mandal, Krishna District, rep. by its Secretary & Correspondent, C.D. Prabhakar Rao, S/o. Isaiah, 52 Years. 5 Nalanda Educatinal Society, Surypaet, Nalgodna District, rep. by its Secretary, A. Nagarjuna, S/o. Balakistaiah, 6 Madina Educational Society, Kodad, nalgonda District, rep. by its Secretary, Syed Jaffar,S/o. Syed Jamal, 7 Deen Dayal Educational Academy Siddharthnagar, Vikarabad, R.R.District, rep. by its President, K.Jaidev, S/o. K. Buddha Dev, R/o. Vikarabad, R.R.District. 8 K.B.K. Educational Society, Gemini colony, Ramangar, Hyderabd rep. by its Secretary, K. Yadaiah, S/o. Venkataiah, R/o. Ramnagar, Hyderabad. 9 Sri Venkateswara Educational Society, Bagh Lingampally, Hyderabad, rep. by its Secretary, K. Sekhar Reddy, S/o. K. Sathi Reddy. 10 Sri Saraswathi Vidya Nilam Educational Society, rep. by its Secretary, P. Madhusudhan Reddy, S/o. P. Narasimha Reddy, Hyderabad. R/o. Hyderabad. 11 Katipally Ravinder Reddy Education Society, Nizamabad, rep. by its President, K.M. Mahender Reddy, S/o. K. Mohan Reddy, R/o. Hyderabad. ..... PETITIONERS AND 1. Govt of A.P., rep. by its Principal Secretary to Govt., School Education ( Training-A1) Department, Secretariat, Hyderabad. 2 The Convenor, EDCET 2004-2005, O/o. Director of School Education, A.P. Hyderabad. 3 The Commissioner & Director of School Education, A.P. Hyderabad. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to Issue a writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ or writs, order or direction, declaring the G.O.Rt.No.216, School Education (Training-A1) Department dt. 24.3.2005 issued by first respondent as illegal, arbitrary, unconstitutional and without jurisdiction; Award costs and pass such other or further orders as are deemed fit and proper in the circumstances of the case. Counsel for the Petitioners : MR. N.SRIDHAR REDDY Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR SCHOOL EDUCATION In WRIT PETITION NO : 6949 of 2005 Between: St.Mary Educational Society, LIG-2, A.P.H.B.Colony, Nalgonda, rep.by its Secretary, Y.Renuka. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Government of Andhra Pradesh rep.by its Prl.Secretary, School Education Department Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad. 2 The A.P.State Council for Higher Education, Andhra pradresh, Hyderabad. 3 The Commissioner & Director of School Education, Andhra pradesh, Hyderabad. 4 The Convenor, Ed.CET 2004, Hyderabad. 5 The Osmania University, Hyderabad, rep.by its Registrar. 6 The National Council for Teacher Education, 1st floor, CSD Building, HMT post, Bangalore .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court may be pleased to declare the impugned G.O.Ms.No.216 dated 24-03-2005 issue by the 1st respondent refusing the inclusion of the colleges established by the petitioner in the approved list of colleges of Education for the academic year 2004-2005 for allotment of students as unconstitutional and hence, void and nonest in the eye of law, arbitrary and illegal, offending Article 14 of the Constitution of India by way of issue of a writ, order or direction, more particularly one in the nature of writ of Mandamus and consequently direct the Respondents to treat the colleges established by the petitioner at par with the colleges included in G.O.Ms.No.48 dated 03-03-2005 and pass such other order or orders as are deemed fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case. Counsel for the Petitioner : MR. D.V.SITARAMAMURTHY Counsel for the Respondent Nos.1 to 4 : GP FOR School EDUCATION Counsel for the respondent No.5 : Mr. Deepak Bhattacharjee Counsel for the respondent No.6 : -- In WRIT PETITION NO : 6950 of 2005 Between: 1 Manair Educational Academy Rep. by its Secretary K.Anatha Reddy, Padma Nagar, Karimnagar- 505 002, 2 Raja Bahadur Venkatarama Reddy Vignana Parishad Karimnagar rep by its Correspondent Pingali Bhaskar Reddy, ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 The Govt of A.P., Rep by its Prl.Secretary School Education Dept. Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad. 2 The A.P.State Council for Higher Education A.P., Hyderabad. 3 The Commissioner and Director of School Education A.P., Hyderabad. 4 The Convenor, Ed.CET 2004, Hyderabad. 5 The Kakatiya University Rep by its Registrar Warangal. 6 The National Council for Teacher Education 1st Floor, CSD Building, HMT Post Bangalore-560 031. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court may be pleased to .Pleased to declare the impugned G.O.Ms.No.216 dt. 24-03-2005 issued by the 1st Respondent refusing the inclusion of the colleges established by the petitioners in the approved list of Colleges of Education for the academic year 2004-2005 for allotment of students as unconstitutional and hence, void and nonest in the eye of law, arbitrary and illegal offending Articles 14 of the Constitution of India by way of issue of a writ, order or direction, more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus and consequently direct the respondents to treat the colleges established by the petitioners at par with the colleges included in G.O.Ms.No.48 dt.03-03-2005 and pass such other order or orders. Counsel for the Petitioners : MR. D.V.SITARAMAMURTHY Counsel for the Respondent Nos.1 to 4: GP FOR School EDUCATION Counsel for the respondent No.5 : Mr. Deepak Bhattacharjee In WRIT PETITION NO : 6951 of 2005 Between: 1 Karunya Educational Society, Plot No.39, Doctors Colony, Seethammadhara Visakhapatnam-13, rep., by its Secretary and Correspondent V.Raj Kumar. 2 Elite Educational Society, Draksharama, East Godavari District rep., by its President and Correspondent Smt.G.Annapurna. ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 The Government of Andhra Pradesh rep., by its Principal Secretary, School Education Department, Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad. 2 The A.P. State Council for Higher Education, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad. 3 The Commissioner and Director of School Education, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad. 4 The Convenor, Ed.CET 2004, Hyderabad. 5 The Andhra University, Visakhapatnam rep., by its Registrar. 6 The National Council for Teacher Education, 1st Floor, CSD Building, HMT Post,Bangalore-560 031. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court may be pleased to declare the impugned G.O.Ms.No.216 dated 24-03-2005 issued by the 1st respondent refusing the inclusion of the colleges established by the petitioners in the approved list of Colleges of Education for the academic year 2004-2005 for allotment of students as unconstitutional and hence, void and nonest in the eye of law, arbitrary and illegal, offending Article 14 of the Constitution of India by way of issue of al writ, order or direction, more particularly one in the nature of writ of mandamus and consequently direct the respondents to treat the colleges established by the petitioners at par with the colleges included in G.O.Ms.No.48 dated 03-03-2005 and pass such other order or orders as are deemed fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case. Counsel for the Petitioners : MR. D.V.SITARAMAMURTHY Counsel for the Respondent Nos.1 to 4 : GP FOR School EDUCATION Counsel for the respondent No.5 : Mr. V.Rajagopal Reddy Counsel for the respondent No.6 : --- In WRIT PETITION NO : 7077 of 2005 Between: Scient Educational Society, Hyderabad, rep. by its Secretary, K.C. Shekhar reddy, r/o. Hyderabad. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 Government of A.P., rep. by its Principal Secretary to Govt., School Education ((Training-A1) Department, at Secretariat, Hyderabad. 2 The Convenor, EDCET 2004-2005, O/o. Director of School Education, A.P., Hyderabad. 3 The Commissioner & Director of School Education, A.P., Hyderabad. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court may be pleased to Issue a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ or writs, order or direction, declaring the G.O.Rt.No.216, School Education (Training- A1) Department Dt. 24.3.2005 issued by first respondent as illegal, arbitrary, unconstitutional and without jurisdiction; Award costs and pass such other or further orders. Counsel for the Petitioner : MR. N.SRIDHAR REDDY Counsel for the Respondents : GP FOR SCHOOL EDUCATION In WRIT PETITION NO : 7125 of 2005 Between: St.Peter's Educational Society, Giddalur, Prakasam District rep.by its Correspondent Sri Kota Jayapaul. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Government of Andhra Pradesh rep.by its Prl. Secretary School Education Department Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad. 2 The A.P.State Council for Higher Education Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad. 3 The Commissioner & Director of School Education, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad. 4 The Convenor, Ed.CET 2004, Hyderabad. 5 Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Anantapur rep.by its Registrar. 6 The National Council for Teacher Education, 1st floor, CSD Building, HMT post, Bangalore-560031. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court may be pleased to declare the impugned G.O.Ms.No.216 dated 24-03-2005 issued by the 1st Respondent refusing the inclusion of St.peter's College of Education, Pattikonda, Kurnool District established by the petitioner in the approved list of Colleges of Education for the academic year 2004-2005 for allotment of students as unconstitutional and hence, void and nonest in the eye of law, arbitrary and illegal, offending Article 14 of the Constitution of India by way of issue of a writ, order or direction, more particularly one in the nature of writ of Mandamus and consequently direct the respondents to treat St.Peter's College of Education, Pattikonda, Kurnool District established by the petitioner at par with the colleges included in G.O.Ms.No.48 dated 03-03-2005 and pass such other order or orders as are deemed fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case. Counsel for the Petitioner : MR. D.V.SITARAMAMURTHY Counsel for the Respondent Nos.1 to 4 : GP FOR EDUCATION In WRIT PETITION NO : 7132 of 2005 Between: V.C.Venkata Reddy Educational Society, Markapur, Prakasam District rep., by its Secretary and Principal B.Guruva Reddy. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Government of Andhra Pradesh rep., by its Principal Secretary, School Education Department, Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad. 2 The A.P. State Council for Higher Education, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad. 3 The Commissioner and Director of School Education, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad. 4 The Convenor, Ed.CET 2004, Hyderabad. 5 The Nagarjuna University, Guntur rep., by its Registrar 6 The National Council for Teacher Education 1st Floor, CSD Building, HMT Post, Bangalore-560 031. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court may be pleased to declare the impugned G.O.Ms.No.216 dated 24-03-2005 issued by the 1st respondent refusing the inclusion of Ravi Teja College of Education, Markapur, Prakasam District established by the petitioner in the approved list of Colleges of Education for the academic year 2004-2005 for allotment of students as unconstitutional and hence, void and nonest in the eye of law, arbitrary and illegal, offending Article 14 of the Constitution of India by way of issue of a writ, order or direction, more particularly one in the nature of writ of mandamus and consequently direct the respondents to treat RaviTeja College of Education, Markapur, Prakasam District established by the petitioner at par with the colleges included in G.O.Ms.No.48 dated 03-03-2005 and pass such other order or orders as are deemed fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case. Counsel for the Petitioners : MR. D.V.SITARAMAMURTHY Counsel for the Respondent Nos.1 to 4 : GP FOR EDUCATION Counsel for the 5th respondent : Mr. T.S.Haranath IN WRIT PETITION NO : 7388 of 2005 Between: 1 Al-Ameen Educational Societhy, 7, Tombs Road, Nadeem Colony, Toli Chowki, Hyderabad, rep. by its Secretary Shahnaz Siddiqui. 2 Shahnaz College of Education, D.No. 3-44, Narsapur Village & Mandal,Medak District, rep. by its Correspondent Shahnaz Siddiqui. 3 Shahnaz Siddiqui, W/o Mohd. Khadeeruddin Siddiqui, R/o Toli Chowki, Hyderabad-8. ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 Government of Andhra Pradesh, rep. by its Principle Secretary, School Education, Secretariat, Saifabad, Hyderabad. 2 Commissioner and Director of School Education, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad. 3 Government of Andhra Pradesh, rep. by its Principal Secretary, Minority Welfare Department, Secretariat, Saifabad, Hyderabad. 4 The Convenor, Edcet-2004 Hyderabad. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court may be pleased to issue a Writ, order, direction more particularly one in the nature of writ of "Mandamus" declaring the action of the 1st respondent in issuing G.O.Rt.No. 216 dated 24-3-2005 in refusing to include the 2nd petitioner institution in the list of approved Colleges of Education for the academic year 2004-05 as being illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional and consequently direct the respondents to treat the 2nd petitioner institution as an approved College of Education for the academic year 2004-05 and for all years thereafter for all purposes and pass such other order or orders as the Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case. Counsel for the Petitioner : MR. S.NIRANJAN REDDY Counsel for the Respondents : GP FOR HIGHER EDUCATION The Court at the stage of admission made the following Common Order : THE HON’BLE MS. JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION NOs.7006, 6949, 6950, 6951, 7077, 7125, 7132, & 7388 OF 2005 COMMON ORDER: All these writ petitions are filed seeking a declaration that G.O.Rt.No.216, School Education (Training–A1) Department, dated 24-3-2005 issued by the Government of A.P. as arbitrary, illegal and offending Article 14 of the Constitution of India. Since common questions of fact and law arise for consideration, all the matters are heard together and decided by this Common Order. The writ petitioners are the Educational Societies which intended to establish Colleges of Education at different places in the State. It is not in dispute that in pursuance of the Notifications issued in terms of the guidelines under G.O.Ms.No.398, Education, dated 4-12-1997, the petitioner Societies have applied seeking permission to start Colleges of Education and having considered the same, the Government of A.P. granted No Objection Certificates to all the petitioners. It is also not in dispute that the N.O.C. granted in favour of all the institutions are valid for the academic year 2004-05. The petitioners state that on the basis of the N.O.C. granted by the Government of A.P, they have applied to the Southern Regional Committee of National Council for Teacher Education (N.C.T.E.) for grant of recognition and the same has been granted for the academic session 2004-05 with an annual intake specified in the respective orders. Pursuant to the recognition granted by N.C.T.E., the petitioners made applications to the concerned Universities for grant of affiliation and the same are under process. While so, since the admission of students in various Colleges of Education in the State for the Academic year 2004-05 was being processed, the petitioners made applications to the Government of A.P. as well as the Commissioner and Director of School Education, A.P. seeking a direction to the Convenor, EDCET 2004-05 for allotment of students to the Colleges established by the Petitioner Societies. However, their request has not been considered and the 1st respondent issued G.O.Ms.No.48, dated 3-3-2005 approving the list of Colleges of Education in the State for the academic year 2004- 05 and requesting the Chairman, A.P. State Council of Higher Education to instruct the Convenor, EDCET-2004 to allot the candidates as per the Rules issued in G.O.Ms.No.26 and G.O.Ms.No.27, dated 3-3-2005. The colleges established by the petitioner societies were not included in the list of 303 colleges specified in the Annexure to G.O.Ms.No.48, dated 3-3-2005. Aggrieved by the said action, all the petitioners herein filed Writ Petitions. While directing Rule Nisi in the said writ petitions, this Court granted interim directions to allot the students to the Colleges established by the petitioners without reference to G.O.Ms.No.48, dated 3-3-2005. The operative portion of the said order runs as under : “In the circumstances, there shall be a direction to the respondents to allot the students to the petitioner colleges in accordance with law notwithstanding the fact that they are not included in the list of colleges under G.O.Ms.No.48, dated 3-3-2005.” The petitioners allege that in spite of the said orders, the students were not allotted to the petitioner colleges for admission, but on the other hand the impugned G.O.Ms.No.216, dated 24-03-2005 has been issued rejecting the request of the petitioners for inclusion of their colleges in the list of approved Colleges of Education for allotment of candidates. The relevant portion of the said order may be extracted hereunder : “In the instant case, none of institutions listed in Annexure-II have produced the affiliation letters issued by the concerned Universities, so as to verify whether or not they have duly fulfilled the conditions as per Law nor submitted the official Gazette to the Government for appropriate action as stipulated in sub-section (4) of Section 14 of the above said Act. In the absence thereof, the Government is not in a position to consider their requests favourably. Further, the Government had already taken a categorical decision to the effect that the existing colleges in the State are sufficient to cater to the needs of the students and also for meeting the teacher requirements of the schools in the State. Moreover the intake capacity of existing colleges is more than the demand from the student community. Government after careful consideration of the matter and in pursuance of the interim directions of the A.P. High Court, hereby reject the request of the Presidents/Secretaries and Correspondents of the above educational societies to include their colleges in the Approved List of Colleges of Education for the academic year 2004-05 for allotment of students as their requests are not in accordance with Law.” The said order is under challenge in all these writ petitions contending that all the grounds mentioned in the said G.O. for not allotting the students to the colleges established by the petitioner Societies are untenable. It is also specifically alleged that out of 303 colleges listed in G.O.Ms.No.48, dated 3-3-2005, the publication of recognition in the Official Gazette was not communicated in writing for any one of the colleges. It is also alleged that more than 100 colleges do not have affiliation from the respective Universities. It is alleged that the action of the respondents is vindictive and the impugned order was passed only to defeat the interim orders of this Court in the earlier writ petitions. It is also pleaded that there are about 1,90,000 students who are qualified for admission into B.Ed. course for the academic year 2004-05, whereas the total number of candidates that may be allotted to 303 colleges which are listed in G.O.Ms.No.48, dated 3-3-2005, would be around 30,000 only. Hence, the contention of the Government that the capacity of the exiting colleges is more than the demand is incorrect. On behalf of the respondents, a common counter-affidavit has been filed. The Deputy Director (Training) in the office of the Director of School Education, A.P., who has deposed to the said counter-affidavit on behalf of all the respondents, denied all the allegations made by the petitioners and stated that the Convenor, EDCET 2004- 05 has not allotted candidates to any colleges, which do not have any valid affiliation letters. It is further stated that after examining the cases of the petitioners, it was found that none of the petitioners had any document to show that they had affiliation from the concerned Universities. In the absence of the affiliation, the Government cannot allot any students to those colleges and therefore their cases were rejected and the rejection orders in G.O.Rt.No.216, dated 24-03-2005 and G.O.Rt.No.245, dated 1-4-2005 were duly communicated to the petitioners. Subsequently, in compliance with the orders of this Court dated 5-4-2005, an additional Counter-affidavit has been filed on 7-4-2005 on behalf of the respondents explaining the specific allegations made by the writ petitioners that more than 100 colleges and particularly the six colleges whose names were specified in the affidavits filed in support of the writ petitions do not have affiliations from their respective Universities. In the additional counter-affidavit, it is stated that G.O.Ms.No.48, dated 3-3- 2005 was sent to the State Council for Higher Education, who in turn by letter dated 5-3-2005 addressed all the Registrars of various Universities in A.P. requesting them to cause affiliation inspections in order to issue renewal of application to B.Ed. colleges and send the list on or before 18-03-2005 i.e., before the commencement of the counselling on 21-3-2005. In response to the said letter, the Registrars of various Universities have communicated the list of colleges having affiliations for the year 2004-05. Thereafter, the list of affiliated colleges furnished by the respective Universities as well as colleges notified in G.O.Ms.No.48, dated 3-3-2005 were sent to the Convenor, EDCET, who, in turn will allot students on being satisfied that the colleges are having affiliations from the concerned Universities and recognition from the N.C.T.E. It is further stated that out of 303 colleges enumerated in G.O.Ms.No.48, dated 3-3-2005, only three colleges viz., (1) St. Marks College of Education, Tekkali (2) Nagarjuna College of Education, Tenali Revenue Division, Guntur District and (3) Hannamma Christian College of Education, Proddatur did not have affiliation for the year 2004-05 and they were accordingly not allotted any students. So far as the six colleges specified in the affidavits of the petitioners, it is stated that the allegation of the petitioners that they do not have affiliation is incorrect and without any basis and as per the letter of Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupathi dated 15-03-2005 they are all existing colleges and were being granted extension of affiliation by the University. However, so far as the allegation of the petitioners that out of the 303 colleges listed in G.O.Ms.No.48, dated 3-3-2005 none of the colleges has submitted the publication of recognition in the Official Gazette, it is stated that the colleges included in the list annexed to G.O.Ms.No.48, dated 3-3-2005 are the colleges which have been notified by N.C.T.E. in its letters dated 25-1-2005 and 16-2-2005 and the Gazette Notifications of the Colleges which have been granted recognition by the N.C.T.E. would be in the custody of N.C.T.E. which has not been made party to the writ petitions. I have heard the learned Counsel for the petitioners, learned Government Pleader appearing for the respondents as well as the learned Standing Counsel appearing for the respective Universities and perused the material on record. Sri D.Prakash Reddy, the learned Senior Counsel leading the arguments on behalf of the petitioners vehemently contended that all the grounds on which the respondents have refused to include the Colleges of the petitioner Societies in the list of the Approved Colleges are non-existent and the impugned order has been passed only to defeat the positive directions of this Court in the interim orders granted in the earlier batch of writ petitions. The learned Senior Counsel submitted that as per sub-Section (6) of Section 14 of the N.C.T.E. Act, the affiliation follows the recognition granted by the N.C.T.E. as a matter of course and therefore there is absolutely no justification in rejecting the request of the petitioners on the ground of absence of affiliation. The learned Counsel further contended that having issued No Objection Certificate in pursuance of the Notifications issued in terms of G.O.Ms.No.398, dated 4-12-1997 which are admittedly valid for the academic year 2004-05, it is not open to the respondents to take a stand that the existing colleges in the State are sufficient to cater to the needs of the students and for meeting the teacher requirements of the schools in the State. He also points out that since the respondents themselves admitted in their additional counter-affidavit