Summary
The High Court directed Odisha to permit 2020–21 B.Tech admissions by qualifying-examination marks, drawing on an AICTE relaxation for PGDM/MBA courses. The Supreme Court set that direction aside because the State statute required approved entrance tests and centralised counselling. Nonetheless, exercising Article 142 in light of exceptional pandemic hardship, it protected the 592 direct-entry and 243 lateral-entry students already admitted under the High Court order for that academic year. The protection did not validate the High Court's contrary statutory interpretation.
Issues
- Whether the High Court could require B.Tech admissions contrary to the State's entrance-test statute.
- Whether students already admitted under its order should be protected in the exceptional pandemic circumstances.
Provisions considered
- Section 3, Odisha Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Fixation of Fees) Act, 2007The statutory entrance-test and counselling requirements remained binding; AICTE's communication did not authorise a judicial direction overriding them. (¶¶ 3, 11, 12)
- Article 142, Constitution of IndiaExceptional pandemic hardship justified protecting the specified students already admitted for 2020–21 despite setting aside the High Court's legally erroneous direction. (¶¶ 13, 14)
Held
- Mandamus could not require the State to act against section 3(1). Although the State's reading of AICTE's letter was itself erroneous, that did not remove its duty to follow the governing statute. (¶¶ 11, 12)
- For 2020–21, displacing 592 direct-entry and 243 lateral-entry students already admitted pursuant to the High Court order would cause injustice in the exceptional pandemic circumstances. Their admissions were preserved under Article 142 while correcting the legal position. (¶¶ 10, 13, 14)
Result
Appeal disposed of; High Court judgment set aside, but admissions of the identified 592 direct-entry and 243 lateral-entry students protected for the academic year in question under Article 142.