HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Telangana High Court, headed by Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J Sreenivas Rao, has granted major relief to four private engineering colleges, allowing them to increase their intake capacity in Computer Science Engineering (CSE) and allied courses as permitted by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
The colleges - Vidya Jyothi Institute of Technology, CMR College of Engineering and Technology, Malla Reddy College of Engineering for Women, and MLR Institute of Technology - filed four contempt of court cases against the state government for not implementing the court’s previous order on increasing the seats.
The colleges had earlier won a ruling from the division bench, directing the government to conduct mop-up counselling to fill the additional seats, a directive that was not followed.
The government’s petition appealing against the order was dismissed by the Supreme Court and no review was granted. As the AICTE’s deadline for admissions ends on October 23, the court observed that immediate action was necessary to prevent harm to the colleges.
Chief Justice Aradhe expressed anger with the state’s failure to comply with the court’s orders, warning that further delays would make any future action ineffective.
“If we are not passing any orders, later it will be of no use,” the bench remarked. The court reiterated that it had already extended the deadline for admissions, allowing the colleges to admit students under spot admissions, but strictly prohibited charging of capitation fees.
The bench also issued notices to Burra Venkatesham, Principal Secretary of Higher Education Department, A Sridevasena, Commissioner of Technical Education Department; Prof Sriram Venkatesh, Secretary of the Telangana State Council for Higher Education; and others-questioning why they should not be punished for contempt of court. The court set a hearing for three weeks later to determine the quantum of punishment for the officials’ willful disobedience.
At one point, the bench remarked that the authorities might be delaying action because the colleges were aligned with rival political parties. The court strongly warned that deliberate disobedience of its orders could lead to six months of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 2,000.
