HC notices to LG, law secy and IP Univ VC for ‘disobeying’ order

New Delhi: Delhi High Court issued notices on Friday to LG VK Saxena, law secretary Bharat Parasar, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University vice-chancellor Mahesh Verma and director higher education Bhupesh Chowdhry for “deliberately disobeying” a division bench order issued last year, which mandated the creation of an online portal to display branch-wise and college-wise seats available under the management quota at the university and its affiliate colleges.The court's decision was prompted by a petition filed on Wednesday by an admission seeker alleging corruption and control by touts of management quota admissions at GGSIPU and affiliated private professional colleges. There was no response from the LG’s office to TOI’s queries on the matter. The matter will next be heard on July 5.Last year, on August 4, the high court had decreed: “GGSIP University to make an online portal to display the branch-wise, college-wise seats available under management quota. Prospective students can apply online as well as offline against available seats under management quota. The college shall display the list of aspirant admission seekers on the online portal as well as on the notice board of the college.”On Friday, in response to the petition filed on Wednesday, the court noted that the directive to establish the online system had not been followed.On September 22, 2022, the Directorate of Higher Education has sent a circular to GGSIPU outlining new directions to improve transparency, clarity, and efficiency in admissions against management seats in private institutions affiliated with the university. The circular directed an online portal to be created to display branch-wise, college-wise seats available under the management quota, allowing prospective students to apply online. A management quota admission monitoring committee was also to be established in each affiliated institution.The court observed, however, that the directions in the circular weren’t issued by the competent authority, the LG, who is also the chancellor of GGSIPU. “In view of the above, the respondents are directed to issue necessary orders to comply with the above directions within two weeks. It is made clear that these directions shall cease to follow for the session 2022-23 and the seats already filled till 2022-23 under the management quota by colleges for different branches shall not be disturbed,” the court said.Advocate for the petitioner Khagesh Jha said, "Touts are rampant in the institutes affiliated with IP University, where capitation fees of Rs 2-20 lakh are demanded for various professional courses. Instead of creating a portal, the university created a webpage and charged a security amount to discourage students, ultimately to promote capitation culture in professional courses. Compliance with court order would have curbed all this.”Kamal Pathak, registrar of GGSIPU, said the actual number of management seats are known only after the intake of students through CET, CUET and other exams.