The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed private universities with “doubtful” deemed status to apply for accreditation from National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) — an autonomous body under UGC — that could serve as reference point for admission seekers. The order passed by a Bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra became necessary as the Centre informed the apex court that it was still in the process of framing statutory rules on granting deemed status to private universities and will required three months to take a final view on the inputs received from All India Council for Technical Education, National Accreditation Board, NAAC and UGC.
The Bench was conscious of the fact that admissions to colleges would begin by June and students will not be in a position to assess the quality of those institutions whose deemed status has been declared “doubtful” owing to several deficiencies in infrastructure, teaching and research.
Advocates who represented the private universities with suspect deemed status expressed no hesitation to approach NAAC. The Centre expressed reservation that the grant of accreditation by NAAC would not be subjective. In its latest affidavit, the Centre had sought to undo all previous exercises being carried out by the UGC and the expert Professor Tandon Panel constituted by Ministry of Human Resources Development in categorising deemed universities under A (good), B (scope for improvement) and C (all set to lose deemed status).
Noting in its order that the NAAC should be subjective in its decisions, the Bench said, “If NAAC desires to consult the University Grants Commission or consider the report submitted by UGC, it is free to do so. It is hereby made clear that any decision given by NAAC shall be subject to the result of the writ petition, as well as the further deliberations in the backdrop of rules framed by the Union of India.”