Supreme Court sets aside Orissa HC order, bans engg through distance mode

By-Manish Kumar

New Delhi, Nov 4: The Supreme Court has now ordered recalling of engineering degrees earned through distance mode through a deemed university while hearing a petition which reviewed the contradictory verdicts of Orissa High Court and the Punjab & Haryana high Court.

A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Adarsh Goel and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit Friday ordered recalling the engineering degrees earned through distance mode. The written order was made public Saturday.

The court order says, “Students who were admitted after the academic sessions 2001-2005, their degrees in engineering awarded by the concerned deemed to be universities through distance education mode stand recalled and be treated as cancelled. All benefits secured by such candidates shall stand withdrawn…”

The court also asked directed the University Grants Commission (UGC) for ensuring that the deemed universities restrain from using the word ‘deemed’ within one month. The degrees in engineering obtained by serving diploma holders through distance mode offered by certain deemed universities through “off campus study centres” were been found valid entitling the concerned candidates to benefits available for any serving graduate engineers by the Orissa HC whereas the decision rendered by the High Court of Punjab & Haryana was to the contrary.

The SC order said, “We thus accept the view taken by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh and set aside the decision of the High Court of Orissa. With the aforementioned observations, appeals are disposed of. No order as to costs.”

However the court has given the aggrieved students whose degrees would be nullified to appear in an examination where they will be given two chance to clear the exam. As per the SC order all advantages of the candidates would be restored if they clear the case.

However, some from the education sector expressed displeasure over the verdict. Advocate Ravi Bharadwaj, an education matter expert said, “I am surprised to note that the SC feels that the Deemed Universities are unregulated, which is not the case, in fact they are the most regulated rather controlled segment. I do not think, the Deemed Universities by any provision of the UGC Act, 1956 is not entitled to use the ‘University’, however, we have to abide the judgement unless re-visited.”