New Delhi: On Monday i.e. March 8, 2010, the deemed universities facing de-recognition have challenged in the Supreme Court the central government's power to strip them of their status. As per sources, appearing on behalf of various deemed universities, before a bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice A.K. Patnaik, senior counsel K K. Venugopal challenged saying that the recognition accorded to these universities, under a law made by parliament cannot be taken back by an executive order.
According to Mr Venugopal, the issues related to recognition of an educational institution of excellence falls under the domain of the University Grant Commission (UGC) Act. The government has no jurisdiction to set up task force to examine institution and the academic and physical infrastructure within it, as it is against the mandate of the UGC Act. The whole procedure adopted by the government is without jurisdiction and illegal.
Further, Venugopal pointed out to the apex court that the UGC had originally given the recognition to various institutions as 'deemed university' for five years and it was to assess their performance after that. However, the government has decided to derecognize these institutions much before the stipulated period. One particular university was derecognized within 28 days.
Attorney General Goolam E. Vahanvati told the court that the government will not derecognize them without giving a hearing on the panel's notice, seeking the stripping of their tag for want of proper educational environment and infrastructure. The bench was hearing a lawsuit by advocate Viplaw Sharma, who questioned the government's stance in according deemed university status to increasing numbers of educational institutions.
