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It appears that the documents which have been sought from the petitioner are all required for the purpose of making a decision as to whether the management has to conduct the course applied for and the ability of the management to handle the same. The Hon’ble High Court at Calcutta before the Hon’ble Justice Amrita Sinha held such views regarding the case of Renubala College of Education & Anr vs. The West Bengal Board of Primary Education & Ors [WPA No. 11625 of 2021].

The facts of the case related to the writ petition of the plaintiff  Renubala College of Education & Anr. ( no. 1 college), who applied online regarding the grant of recognition of teacher education programs before the National Council for Technical Education (NCTE for short) on 31st May 2016.

A NOC before the board was applied by the petitioner. The prayer of the petitioner for grant of NOC was examined by the Board dated 24th June 2021 the Board was of the opinion that the application filed by the petitioner was lacking. 

The board would be satisfied if the required documents by the petitioner get verified, then they would take the necessary actions. It was further communicated “The Board will dispose of the application finally as per the opinion/recommendation of the Government of West Bengal in the Department of School Education”.

The contents of the said communication anguished the petitioner. The petitioner stated that the NCTE Regulations, 2014 does not give any power to the affiliating body to record his satisfaction. There was no provision in the said Regulations that required forwarding of the documents sought for by the affiliating body. The Board being the affiliating body was required to issue a NOC when applications are made before them in its usual course, contends the petitioner.

A submission by the learned advocate representing the board stated that the documents from the petitioner were required for the purpose of making a decision with regard to the application filed by the petitioner praying for issuance of NOC for recognition. Normally, the College Development Council which deals with affiliations might take it up, based on aspects like credentials of the society/management.

The Hon’ble Court was not able to accept the submission by the petitioner that the affiliating body had to grant NOC. The affiliating body might develop their own rules and procedures for grant of NOC but for the issuance of NOC the board looks into documents. 

The Hon’ble Court stated, “It is not the case of the petitioner that the documents are irrelevant for the purpose of taking a decision with regard to recognition, but the only issue that has been raised is the authority of the affiliating body to seek for and verify the same.”

To get recognition various procedures are to be followed and to obtain a NOC is one of them. The board plays a vital role in such cases. 

The Hon’ble High Court at Calcutta pronounced “Whether or not the NOC will be granted in favour of the petitioner by the affiliating body is a different question altogether and the said stage is yet to come. The Court is of the opinion that there is no illegality on the part of the affiliating body in seeking for the documents for the purpose of issuance of NOC. No interference is called for in the present case. The writ petition stands dismissed.”

Click here to read the judgment

Judgment reviewed by Bipasha Kundu