Supreme Court of India ruling puts 34 deemed universities on 'doomed' list

Around three lakh students enrolled in 34 deemed universities across the country were dealt a severe setback on Thursday, when the Supreme Court ruled that these institutions cannot be allowed to operate without fresh physical verification of their infrastructure and teaching faculty. 

The court questioned how 34 of the 41 universities found deficient in 2009 by the University Grants Commission were recently given clean chits without further verification after perusing certain documents

A report prepared by UGC Vice Chairman H. Devaraj and submitted to the court said only seven to eight varsities out of the 41 that were blacklisted were found inadequate, and the HRD ministry would serve them a show-cause notice before their de-notification. 

But the court rejected the UGC’s plea to allow other universities to function and asked: “What is the hurry? The universities cannot be allowed to operate without physical verification of their infrastructure and the strength of the teaching faculty. How can you make such a request?” 

The court postponed the matter for September 26,2014 to get a fresh view on the 41 deemed universities after proper checks. 

The aggrieved universities had approached the Supreme Court, opposing the HRD ministry’s decision to derecognise them. 

The ministry's decision was based on the recommendations of a committee headed by eminent scholar N. Tandon. 

In its review of a total of 126 deemed universities, the Tandon committee found only 38 in group A category fit to qualify, while 44 in group B were found deficient in some parameters that needed to be rectified. Another 44, placed in group C, were found totally unfit.