Theni Kammavar Sangam College Of ... vs National Council For Teacher ...
2013 Latest Caselaw 5082 Del

*      IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

%
                                             Date of Decision: 06.11.2013

+                      WP(C) No.6933 of 2013 & CM No.15023 of 2013
       THENI KAMMAVAR SANGAM COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
                                              ..... Petitioner
                   Through: Mr. M.A. Chinasamy, Adv.

                            versus

    NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR TEACHER EDUCATION &
    ANR.
                                             ..... Respondent
                   Through: Mr. Chandra Shekhar for Mr.
                             Amitesh Kumar, Adv. for NCTE
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE V.K.JAIN

                               JUDGMENT

V.K.JAIN, J. (Oral)

The petitioner before this Court applied to Southern Regional Committee (SRC) of NCTE, seeking recognition/ permission to conduct B.Ed. Course for 100 (one hundred) additional intake. The aforesaid application was submitted online on 31.12.2012. In terms of the rules of National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), hard copy in triplicate of the online application was required to be dispatched within seven (7) days of the submission of online application and in the event of failure of the applicant to do so, the application was liable to be rejected. The case of the petitioner is that in terms of the aforesaid rule,

it had dispatched hard copy of the online application to NCTE on 5.1.2013 through M/s Professional Couriers and the same was received by the SRC of NCTE on 7.1.2013. The application of the petitioner, however, was rejected vide order dated 25.3.2013, which to the extent it is relevant, reads as under:

"* The Society has not submitted valid printout of online application. Even after 21st January 2013. (This extended time of the submission allowed to those institutions which faced difficulty due to technical reasons in online applications portal on 30th and 31st December 2012 as mentioned in HQr's notice dated 16.1.2013). Hence, the Society has not dispatched the Hard Copy of the application within 7 days of the submission of the online application, as required under sub-regulation 7(1-A)(i)(b) of NCTE Regulations, 2009.

4) Now, therefore, the application of Theni Kammavar Sangam College of Education, Plot/ Khasra No.240 & 238/2, Plot No.1, Street No.1, Koduvilarpatti Village & PO Theni Tuluka, Theni District, Pin- 625 534, Tamilnadu for permission to B.Ed.-A.1 coruse is hereby rejected. The original DD No.977830 dated 31.12.2012 of Rs.50,050/- issued by Bank of India is returned."

Being aggrieved from rejection of its application by Southern Regional Committee, the petitioner preferred an appeal before NCTE. The aforesaid appeal came to be dismissed vide order dated 26.8.2013, which to the extent it is relevant, reads as under:

"And whereas Shri Karthikeyans, Principal and Chinnasamy, Member, Theni Kammavar Sangam College of Education, Theni, Tamil Nadu presented the case of the appellant institution on 27.7.2013. In the appeal and personal presentation, the appellant submitted that after making online application on 31.12.2012, they submitted the hardcopy of the application and other documents with their letter dated 5.1.2013, sent through professional courier which was delivered on 7.1.2013.

And whereas the Council noted that the copy of the application enclosed to the appeal also indicated that it is not a valid printout. In the circumstances, the Council concluded that the SRC was justified in refusing recognition and therefore the appeal deserved to be rejected and the order of the SRC confirmed.

And whereas after perusal of the documents, Memorandum of appeal affidavit and the documents available on record, the Council concluded that the SRC was justified in refusing recognition and, therefore, the appeal deserved to be rejected and the order of SRC confirmed."

2. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that though the hardcopy sent by them to the Southern Regional Committee on 5.1.2013 was an exact replica of the online application submitted on 31.12.2012, the last two pages of the hardcopy carried a printed statement that it was not a valid printout of the application. This, according to the learned counsel for the petitioner happened on account of some technical error in the system of NCTE. A perusal of the aforesaid statement, found printed on the hardcopy of the application would show that the applicant was required to first submit the application link and then take the printout again. The final printout was to contain an application ID and NCTE Logo on the top. This is not the case of NCTE that the online application was not submitted on 31.12.2012 or hardcopy of the same was not received by it on 7.1.2013. The only ground on which the application of the petitioner was rejected was a statement contained on the hardcopy, which indicated that the said hardcopy was not a valid printout of the application. This could be possible either on account of some error in the system of NCTE, as claimed by the petitioner, or it could be on account of some mistake on the part of the petitioner while taking the printout of the online application submitted by it. Either way, what is material is that the hardcopy which the applicant sends to NCTE must necessarily be an exact replica of the soft copy. If the copy received by NCTE was an exact replica of the online application submitted to it, the application should have been processed irrespective of the aforesaid statement printed on the hardcopy, which NCTE received from the petitioner.

3. A perusal of the hardcopy placed at page 20-27 of the paper book would show that the application number finds mention on the first page

of the application as well as on the forwarding letter dated 5.1.2013. The application number is also available on page 22 of the paper, which is a report showing application status. It is thus quite clear that the number of the application submitted online by the petitioner was very much available with NCTE. It was, therefore, possible for NCTE to verify, as to whether the hard copy received by it was an exact replica of the online application or not. That exercise obviously has not been carried out by NCTE.

4. In these circumstances, the writ petition is disposed of with direction to NCTE to compare the hardcopy received from the petitioner with the online application submitted by it and pass a fresh order on the application of the petitioner. In case it is found that the hardcopy received by it was an exact replica of the online application. If the application of the petitioner is otherwise found in order, it shall now be considered by the respondent - NCTE for the academic year 2014-2015.

There shall be no orders as to costs.

NOVEMBER 06, 2013/rd                                      V.K. JAIN, J.