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PETITIONER: REGIONAL ENGINEERING COLLEGE,HAMIRPUR

       Vs.

RESPONDENT: GURJEET SINGH & ORS.

DATE OF JUDGMENT:       31/10/1996

BENCH: A.M. AHMADI, SUJATA V. MANOHAR

ACT:

HEADNOTE:

JUDGMENT:                       J U D G M E N T      Mrs. Suiata V.Manohar, J.      Leave granted.      The appellant,  Regional Engineering  College, Hamirpur in, Himachal  Pradesh has  filed these  appeals against  the judgment and  order of  the High  Court of  Himachal Pradesh directing the  appellant to  implement the guidelines issued by the All-India Council For Technical Education and to make available seats  to respondents  1  to  5  who  are  diploma holders for  the academic  session 1995-96 and to admit them in the  second year  of the  four year  degree course of the appellant-college.  The   appellant-college  is  a  regional University, Shimla. It conducts a four year degree course in engineering. Students  who have  secured the requisite marks in 10+2  examination are  admitted to  the first year of the degree course.  Respondents 1  to 5 have completed a diploma course of three years in engineering.      The All-India  Council for  Technical  Education  by  a Gazette Notification  dated July  11, 1992  published in the Gazette of the Government of India,    issued guidelines for admission to  an  engineering  degree  programme  under  the powers conferred  on it  by Section  23(1) of  the All-India Council for  Technical Education  Act, 1987.  The guidelins, inter alia,  provide for  lateral entry  in the  engineering degree programme.  Clause 5  of the  guidelines states  that although engineering diploma programmes are conceived of as terminal in  nature, some  flexibility has to be built in to enable the meritorious amongst the diploma holders to obtain engineering degrees.  The clause provides that a student who has acquired  a diploma  in engineering through a minimum of three years  of instittutional study after tenth plus can be considered to  be academically  equivalent to  a student who has passed  the first year of a four year engineering degree programme for  which the  qualifying examination  is at  the twelfth plus level. The guidelines provide the lateral entry for diploma  holders will  be allowed  at the  second  year, third semester  level. It  is, however,  pointed out that at present  students   obtain  a   diploma  through   different programmes  in   different  States.   Such  programmes  have different  structures   and  forms.  In  order  to  maintain

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uniformity, a common entrance examination at the State leval seems  essential. Further,  it is  necessary to select only meritorious students who have passed the diploma with a good academic  record. Therefore, in order to be eligible to seek a  lateral entry  the candidate  must have  passed  the diploma in engineering in the relevant branch with a minimum of 60%  in the  aggregate. Only  candidates fulfilling  this condition would  be eligible  for appearing  in the entrance test meant for selection of diploma holding candidates for lateral entry  to degree  programmes. The guidelines further provide  that   the  diploma   holders  admitted  to  degree programmes through  lateral entry  will have  to be provided with opportunities  for making up their deficiencies through remedial courses  offered for  this purpose and such courses must be  completed by  these students  within the stipulated time. The  guidelines, therefore,  require  a  comprehensive scheme for admitting diploma holders to the degree programme in the second year.      This scheme  for lateral entry has not yet been adopted in the  State of  Himachal  Pradesh  or  by  the  appellant- college. The appellant has pointed out that a meeting of the heads of the teaching departments who are the members of the board of  studies was  called on  13th of September, 1995 at the college  to consider the lateral entry scheme and it was found that there are at least nine courses which the diploma holders do  not study  during the  their three  year diploma course Which  will  have  to  be  provided  to  the  diploma holders. These courses are applied in nature and form a pre- requisite for  study at  the advance level of a professional four year  degree course.  These courses  are taken  in  the first year  of the  degree course. The diploma holders will, therefore, have  to do  these remedial courses for which the infrastructure has  to be  created and additional faculty is required to  be recruited.  Looking to  the small  number of seats available  in a  State like Himachal Pradesh where the intake of  students is  very small this kinds of a programme becomes difficult to implement.      The High  Court has ignored the guidelines as framed by the All-Indiae  Council tor  Technical  Education  for  such lateral entry.  The lateral entry for diploma holders to the second year  of the  degree course  is permissible  provided remedial courses  are available to these diploma holders and further provided  that the  diploma holders  are selected in the manner  prescribed in  the guidelines  so that  only the most meritorious amongst the diploma holders get a chance of entering a  degree course. The High Court, however, directed the appellant  to admit  respondents 1  to 5 who are diploma holders to the second year of the degree course ignoring the other necessary concomitants prescribed by the All-India Council for  Technical Education  for this  purpose. Such  a direction, therefore,  is contrary  even to  the  guidelines prescribed by the All-India Council for Technical Education.      The appellant  has also pointed out that the guidelines do  not   make  it  mandatory  for  a  regional  college  of engineering to  take diplomas holders in the second year. It is merely  a scheme  which enables an engineering college to take a few of such students if a proper scheme is framed for that purpose  in the light of the guidelines issued. No such scheme has  been framed  so far  by the  appellant or by the Himachal Pradesh  University. The  High  Court  should  not, therefore,  have   directed  the   appellant  to  admit  the respondent diploma  holders in the second year of its degree course  without   a  ensuring   the  proper  application  of guidelines, without  a  common  entrance  test  and  in  the absence  of  the  requisite  facilities  in  the  appellant-

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college.      The respondents  1 to  5, however, have relied upon the admission notice  issued by  the appellant-college  for  the academic session  1995-96. Under  the admission notice it is stated, inter  alia, that  one candidate in each branch will also be  admitted on  the merit basis from amongst those who have  passed   their  three   year  diploma  examination  in respective branches from the government polytechnics located in Himachal  Pradesh. This admission notice is for admission of one candidate in each branch from amongst diploma holders to the  first year  of the  degree course.  This opportunity which is given to the diploma holders has nothing to do with the guidelines  prescribed  by  the  All-India  Council  for Technical Education,  though the  purpose may  be the  same, namely,  to   provide  more   flexibility  in  obtaining  an engineering  degree   qualification.  By  admitting  a  very limited number  of diploma  holders on the basis of merit to the first  year of the degree course, the appellant- college is not  required to  provide special  remedial  courses  for these  candidates.  There  is  no  provision  for  a  common entrance examination or selection only of the top candidates from  amongst  diploma  holders  who  are  given  a  special concession of  being admitted  to the  second  year  of  the degree course  and who must, therefore, necessarily have the capacity to  make up  for the  courses which  they have  not attended, through  remedial courses.  The admission  notice, therefore,  cannot  be  correlated  to  the  guidelines  for lateral entry  of diploma  holders to the second year of the degree course.  We fail  to see  how on  the basis  of  this advertisement any  direction can  be given  that the diploma holders so admitted should be admitted to the second year of the degree  course. If  the guidelines are to be implemented they must  be implemented  as a  whole after providing for a proper scheme  for the  implementation of the guidelines and after ensuring  that candidates  have been properly selected and after  ascertaining whether the appellant-college or the Himachal Pradesh  University  is  in  a  position  to  offer remedial courses on a regular basis from year to year.      In the  premises,  the  appeals  are  allowed  and  the judgment and  order of  the High  Court is set aside. In the circumstances, there will be no order as to costs.