- (1.) THESE three appeals by the Union of India, through Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Secondary & Higher Education, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi; the Coordinator, All India Engineering/Pharmacy/Architects Entrance Examination (AIEEE), Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi; and All India Council for Technical Education, New Delhi, are directed against the judgment & order of the learned Single Judge of this Court, dated April 02, 2004, rendered in SB Civil Writ Petition No. 2379/2003, whereby the Policy Notification dated October 18, 2001 of the Government of India, Department of Secondary Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development relating to framework for admission to engineering, architecture and pharmacy courses at under-graduate level in the country; the letter o the University Grants Commission dated December 06, 2001 informing the various institutions that the Government of India had resolved to conduct an All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) for admission to engineering, architecture & pharmacy courses at under-graduate level in the institutions, including the deemed universities as well as central institutions; and University Grants Commission (Admission To Specified Professional Programmes) Interim Regulations, 2003, dated December 17, 2003, framed by the University Grants Commission for admissions on all- India basis to the under-graduate programmes in engineering, architecture & planning and pharmacy in all institutions in the country, including the deemed universities, except admissions of Indian Institute of Technologies, Indian School of Mines (Dhanbad) and Institute of Technology (Banares Hindu University), have been found to be inapplicable to Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani (for short "BITS, Pilani"), the first respondent herein (the sole petitioner in the writ petition).
(2.) ON May 13, 1964, the first respondent was registered under the Rajasthan Societies Registration Act, 1958. Thereafter on June 27, 1964, within a period of less than a months, the Central Government by a publication in the Official Gazette declared the first respondent as a deemed university under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 (for short "UGC Act"). The first respondents, BITS, Pilani, as a deemed university, offers admissions to 17 degree programmes, which include all engineering subject, namely, chemical, civil, mechanical, electrical & electronics, electronics & instrumentation and others subjects like computer science, management, pharmacy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological sciences, economics, information systems, finance etc. Admissions to BITS, Pilani, are made on the basis of merit, which is determined by the aggregate marks obtained by the candidates in 10+2 Examination of the Central Board or a State Board or its equivalent in physics, chemistry, mathematics & English and modified by a method of normalization. According to the first respondent, this system of admissions to the various courses, is being followed by it for the last thirty years and the same has been commended by the Supreme Court in State of Maharashtra vs. Ravindra Kumar Rai ((1999) 2 SCC 48); and UP Public Service Commissions vs. Subhash Chandra Dixit & Others (JT 2003 (8) SC 531). The first respondent, BITS, Pilani, also claims that as per the survey of the top most engineering institutions of the country conducted by India Today, it has been assigned the third place, leaving behind IIT, Delhi, IIT, Mumbai and IIT, Guwahati. That apart, the report of the Peer Team, on accreditation of BITS, Pilani, by the National Assessment & Accreditation Council (NAAC), Bangalore, has also appreciated its admission process. The report while adverting to the admission system of BITS, Pilani, recorded as follows:- "The admission process is highly streamlined and admissions are given only on the basis of merit. The Institute admits students from all over the country and cut-off percentage is minimum 96% (normalized) for the students who have passed 10+2 examinations. The entire process is transparent." As per the certificate of accreditation, issued by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, dated February 07, 2000, BITS, Pilani, has been accredited at the Five Star Level. The grievance of the first respondent, which led to the filing of the writ petition, emanates from the decision of the authorities whereby admission to the engineering courses offered by the first respondent, are required to be made on the basis of All India Engineering Entrance Examination, conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education from the year 2004-2005. The sequence of events leading to admissions through the All India Engineering Entrance Examination need to be stated. A National Policy on Education (NPE) was announced in the year 1986. In order to implement the policy, Programme of Action (PoA) was formulated in the year 1992. The Programme of Action, 1992 (PoA) inter alia envisaged a common entrance examination on All India basis for admission to professional and technical programmes in the country.
(3.) UNDER the Guidelines of 2000, issued by the UGC for Evidencing Proposals For Declaring An Institution As Deemed To Be University UNDER Section 3 of the UGC Act, admissions to the identical causes in all the Deemed to be Universities are required to be made under para 13 on an all-India basis through a common entrance test conducted either by the UGC or by an Institution/Agency identified & approved by the UGC. Para-13 of the Guidelines read as under:- "Admissions shall be made on an All-India basis to the identical courses in all the deemed to be universities through a common entrance test conducted either by the University Grants Commission or by pan Institution/Agency identified and approved by the UGC. This shall apply also to those institutions which have already been given the deemed to be university status." By a policy notified on October 18, 2001, the Government of India following that concept, expressed its decision to organize an All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) from the year 2002. This examination was envisaged to determine merit for admission to engineering, architecture and pharmacy programmes offered in the deemed universities, central institutions, other than those covered by the Joint Entrance Examinations conducted by the IITs and institutions in States/Uts willing to join. According to the Notification, in fact, three examinations are conceived for entrance to engineering programmes in the country, viz. (a) The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) conducted by the IITs; (b) The State Level Engineering Entrance Examination (SLEEE) conducted by the States for entrance to institutions located within their respective territories against seats reserved for students from within the States; and (c) The All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE). The responsibility for conducting the All India Engineering Entrance Examination has been assigned to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The Central Board of Secondary Education was selected to conduct the All India Engineering Entrance Examination, as it is already conducting the All India Quota of 15% seats in Medical/Dental Colleges in the country in accordance with the decisions of the Supreme Court in Dr. Pradeep Jain & Others vs. UNION OF INDIA AIR 1984 SC 1420; Dr. Dinesh Kumar & Others vs. Motilal Nehru Medical College, Allahabad, & Others AIR 1985 SC 1059; and Dr. Dinesh Kumar & Others vs. Motilal Nehru Medical College, Allahabad & Others AIR 1986 SC 1877. As a result of the Notification dated October 18, 2001 a duty has been case on the National Advisory Board (NAB) to advise the Central Board of Secondary Education for conducting the All India engineering Entrance Examination. The members of the Board are required to the drawn from the Ministry of Human Resource Development, participating States/Uts/UGC/ AICTE/NCERT/NIEPA/KVS, NVS. ;