HC comes to rescue of Alagiri college; directs affiliation

Recording its displeasure over the attitude of Anna University in the prolonged legal battle over affiliation to an engineering college run by a trust of DMK leader M K Alagiri, the Madras High Court today directed it to grant provisional affiliation for 2014-15 academic year to enable admission of students.
Allowing a petition filed by the Dhaya College of Engineering here, Justice K Ravichandrabaabu directed the university to treat the petitioner's application submitted for the academic year 2013-14 as the application for the current academic year 2014-15 and grant provisional affiliation.
The Judge also asked the university to permit the college, which has been fighting a legal battle for affiliation since 2011 when it was set up, to take part in the single window counselling.

This was the sixth petition filed by the college management.
The Judge said that in his considered view, "there cannot be any impediment for the University to grant provisional affiliation (to the College)."
The University was not entitled to refuse provisional affiliation for want of certain certificates as the AICTE had already granted approval, based on the materials furnished, in respect of the current academic year 2014-15 despite objection by the former, he said.

"Whenever an order is passed in favour of the petitioner in those matters, the same is taken up by way of appeal by the University immediately for one reason or other. Accordingly, the process is being delayed for grant of affiliation to the petitioner college for every academic year", the Judge said.

"This Court wants to record its displeasure over the attitude of the University in overstepping in this matter ...The university, instead of complying with the order as directed by this Court, every time attempted to find out some new reasons or objections with the sole object of rejecting the petitioner's application seeking affiliation", he said.
Justice Ravichandrabaabu added "I wonder, whether the same approach is being adopted by the University in respect of all the colleges seeking for affiliation. This Court has a strong feeling that the petitioner's college is being treated differently for the reasons best known to the university."

He also noted that the history of this case would disclose that the petitioner is fighting a long battle to get affiliation from the respondent University from the year 2011 onwards by filing one writ petition or other and this is the sixth writ petition.