Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has dismissed a writ petition filed by a student seeking permission for herself and similarly placed candidates to appear for examinations after they were allowed to pursue a certificate course despite being beyond the institute's sanctioned intake. The court also imposed costs of Rs 50,000 on the institute, observing that its conduct was unauthorised and in violation of the law.
Petitioner Sought Hall Tickets For Certificate Course Exam
A division bench of Justices R I Chagla and Firdosh P Pooniwalla delivered the judgment on September 8 in a petition filed by Janhavi Vinod Shegonkar against the State of Maharashtra and others. The petitioner had sought directions for issuance of hall tickets and permission to appear for examinations for the Certificate Course in Health Sanitary Inspector.
The dispute concerned Paras Skill Development Institute, Akola, which had a sanctioned intake of 60 students. While 161 candidates had applied for the course, the Maharashtra State Board of Skill, Vocational Education and Training maintained that only 60 candidates had been formally admitted and approved through the online admission process.
Students Claimed 101 Extra Candidates Were Admitted
The petitioner and other similarly placed students contended that 101 students over and above the sanctioned intake had been admitted after paying fees. They argued that they had continued with the course believing their admissions would eventually receive approval and sought permission to take the examinations to avoid academic loss.
The State authorities opposed the petition, arguing that the online records relied upon by the students were merely a list of applicants and not confirmation of admission. They told the court that generation or payment of application fees did not amount to scrutiny, approval or acceptance of admission by the Board.
Accepting this contention, the High Court noted that the sanctioned intake was 60 and that 60 students had been formally admitted. It held that the claim that all 161 applicants had been accepted by the Board was misleading. The bench said the petitioner had approached the court with "unclean hands" and held that the petition deserved to be dismissed on this ground.
At the same time, the court came down heavily on the institute. It noted that despite being informed that its request for additional intake had been rejected, the institute allowed the 101 excess students to continue with the course, creating an impression that their admissions had been sanctioned. The bench described the conduct as unauthorised and said it suffered from "malafides".
The court dismissed the petition and directed the institute to pay Rs 50,000 to the Bombay High Court Staff Welfare Fund within two weeks of the order being uploaded. The competent authority had also earlier directed the institute to refund fees collected from the 101 excess students.
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