CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has held that the University Grants Commission (UGC) is empowered to initiate appropriate penal action under the UGC Act and its regulations against the open universities and unrecognised universities or the universities which offered unrecognised courses. Justice S M
Subramaniyam made the observation on September 6 last while disposing of a batch of writ petitions seeking to quash an order, dated October 3, 2012, of the Regional Accounts Officer (Audit), Department of School Education, Coimbatore and consequently direct the government and its various agencies to continue payment of incentive for qualifying M.Phil degree granted by the Vinayaka Missions University in Salem.
The judge said it was open to the UGC to initiate appropriate action in view of the fact that the poor students were exploited in this manner by such Deemed to be Universities for their personal gains.