DILIP GUPTA,J. - (1.) KRISHNA Charitable Trust Society (hereinafter referred to as the 'Society') and Krishna College of Education (hereinafter referred to as the 'College'), have sought the quashing of the order passed by the Northern Regional Committee of the National Council for Teacher Education (hereinafter referred to as the 'Committee') in the 152nd meeting rejecting the application submitted by the College for granting recognition to B.Ed. Course.
(2.) THE records of the writ petition indicate that the Society decided to establish the College and submitted the papers along with an application before the National Council for Teacher Education on 30th October, 2008. The Society is the owner of the land over which the said College is to be established and it has executed a lease deed in favour of the College for a period of thirty years. The Committee in its 142nd meeting rejected the application by the order dated 24th July, 2009 on two grounds namely that the land is on lease for thirty years which is contrary to Regulations Clause 8(7) of the National Council for Teacher Education (Recognition, Norms and Procedure), Regulations, 2007 (hereinafter referred to as the '2007 Regulations') and that the building plan was not approved by the Competent Authority. This order was challenged by the petitioners in Writ Petition No. 56357 of 2009 which was disposed of on 27th October, 2009 with a direction to the petitioners to submit a fresh representation to the Northern Regional Committee explaining how the defects stand removed and in case such a representation was moved, the same was required to be decided within six weeks. The petitioners filed a representation before the Committee which has now been rejected by the Committee in its 152nd meeting observing as follows:- "As the land is on private lease for thirty years but as per NCTE Regulations Clause 8(7) the land could be either on ownership basis or on lease from Government/Government Institutions for a period of not less than 30 years. Hence the application for B.Ed. Programme cannot be considered."
(3.) SRI Anurag Khanna, learned counsel for the petitioners has placed reliance upon Clauses 8(7)(i) and (iv) of the National Council for Teacher Education (Recognition, Norms and Procedure), Regulations-2009 (hereinafter referred to as the '2009-Regulations') which are as follows:- "8(7)(i). No institution shall be granted recognition under these Regulations unless the institution or society sponsoring the institution is in possession of required land on the date of application. The land free from all encumbrances could be either on ownership basis or on lease from Government, or Government Institutions for a period of not less than 30 years. In cases where under relevant State or Union Territory laws the maximum permissible lease period is less than 30 years, the State Government or Union Territory Administration law shall prevail. However, no building shall be taken on lease for running any teacher training course. (ii)........... (iii).......... (iv). The society sponsoring the institution shall be required to transfer and vest the title of the land and building in the name of the institution within a period of six months from the date of issue of formal recognition order under sub-regulation (11) of Regulation 7. However, in case, the society fails to do so due to local laws or rules or bye-laws, it shall intimate in writing with documentary evidence, of its inability to do so. The Regional Office shall keep this information on record and place it before the Regional Committee for its approval." ;