May 31, New Delhi
All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) was pulled up by the Supreme Court on Tuesday for not following its orders. The bench dealing with the case lambasted AICTE for not abiding by court’s direction that it must approve 621 technical institutes in Uttar Pradesh by April 10. AICTE had given its approval only on May 7.
The bench warned AICTE that it will not hesitate to start contempt proceedings against the council.
The Court observed that it had no other option but to extend the admission till June 10. It also asked AICTE to file an affidavit within a week explaining why it did not follow the court’s order and give reasons why it should not be prosecuted for contempt of court.
It was in 2012 that the Supreme Court had arrived at a schedule for granting approval and affiliation to technical institutes in order to avoid any unnecessary delay in the admission process. It wanted admission process to be completed by July 31 and academic session to commence from August 1.
Observing that AICTE was showing no promptness in following its order, the Court also ruled that AICTE will have to bear the cost involved for changing the admission date.
The matter is likely to come up for hearing next week.