HC directive to NCTE, Pondy varsity

The Madras High Court today directed the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) to submit the list of officials involved in grant of approval to a teacher training institute in Puducherry which has been found to be functioning from a building lacking plan approval and previously used as a godown.
Noting that the Achariya College of Education had been functioning from 1995 without plan approval for the building, Justice N.Kirubakaran also directed the Pondicherry University to inform the court about the name of the officials who inspected the institution and recommended for affiliation.
The Judge wanted both the NCTE and the university to give the list of officials who first approved the institution and those who subsequently extended the same so far with details of their present position.

Failing this, the NCTE Director the Vince-Chancellor of the university would have to appear before the court on December 21, the Judge said.
He was passing interim orders on a petition filed by the college which sought to quash an order of the university, rejecting affiliation for the academic year 2017-18.
The Judge said it had come to the court's knowledge that so far the petitioner does not have approved plan and without even getting approval for plan of the building, which was used as a godown, the institution was set up.

It was also inspected by a set of officials from NCTE and they had merely given approval.

Petitioner contended that the university gave a 'vague' reasoning that affiliation will be granted only after the college was shifted to a new building with the permission from NCTE.
In its counter affidavit, the Puducherry University submitted the college had been shifted to the new premises for its own convenience and hurriedly re-shifted as soon as the university had issued temporary disaffiliation orders.
The university rejected affiliation only for not obtaining prior approval from NCTE and the university for shifting the premises, which was in gross violation of NCTE regulations and University Affiliation conditions, it added.