The petitioner submits that as there is no specific guideline for issuance of NOC by the affiliating body: Calcutta High Court
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 &amp; Anr vs. The West Bengal Board of Primary Education &amp; Ors [WPA No. 11625 of 2021]. The facts of the case related to the writ petition of the plaintiff  Renubala College of Education &amp; 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.”
IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction Present : Hon’ble Justice Amrita Sinha WPA No. 116221 Renubala College of Education & Anr The West Bengal Board of Primary Education & Ors For the writ petitioners Amrita Sinha J.: Mr. Arabinda Chatterjee Adv Mr. Arkadipta Sengupta Adv Mr. Subir Sanyal Adv Mr. Ratul Biswas Adv Mrs. Chama Mookerji Adv Mr. Siraj Gooptu Adv The petitioner no. 1 college made an online application for grant of recognition of teacher education programmes before the National Council for Technical Educationon 31st May 2016 According to the NCTE notification dated 28th November 2014 an eligible institution desirous of running a teacher education programme may apply to the concerned Regional Committee for recognition in prescribed application form along with processing fee and requisite documents. The application shall be submitted online electronically along with processing fee and scanned copies of required documents such as no objection certificateissued by the concerned affiliating body. The affiliating body of the petitioner is the West Bengal Board of Primary Educationcourses is not adequate and they need to be exempted from the restrictions they may submit their view for consideration of NCTE with actual data and other details about the region and availability of teacher education institutions in the region The question framed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in St. Johns caseand framed by the National Council for Teacher Education are ultra vires the provisions of the National Council for Teacher Education Act 1993 The provisions of National Council for Teacher EducationRegulations 2002 and the National Council for Teacher Education Regulations 1995 were under consideration before the Hon’ble Supreme Court Regulations 5(e) andread as follows 5(e) every institution intending to offer a course or training in teacher education but was not functioning immediately before 17th August 1995 shall submit application for recognition with a no objection certificate from the State or Union Territory in which the institution is located f) application for permission to start new course or training and or to increase intake by recognized institutions under Regulation 4 above shall be submitted to the Regional Committee concerned with no objection certificate from the State or Union Territory in which the institution is located The provision in the Regulations for submitting the application for recognition with a no objection certificate from the State Government or Union Territory was challenged as ultra vires and invalid The Hon’ble Supreme Court noted that the preamble of the Act mentions that the main object for enacting the Act is to achieve planned and coordinated development of the Teacher Education System and also the Regulation and proper maintenance of norms and standards therein. The Act casts a duty upon the Regional Committee to be satisfied with regard to a large number of matters before passing an order granting recognition to an institution. The factors that are to be taken into consideration are whether the institution has adequate financial resources accommodation library qualified staff laboratory and it fulfils such other conditions required for proper functioning of the institution. The Regional Committee has to deal with applications for grant of recognition from several States and the Committee has to necessarily depend upon some agency or body for obtaining necessary information. It is for this reason that the assistance of the State Government or Union Territory in which the institution is located is taken by the Regional Committee and accordingly the provision has been made in the Regulation for obtaining the no objection certificate from the State or Union Territory for grant of recognition. The details that are required to be verified for the purpose of issuance of no objection certificate facilitate the job of the Regional Committees in discharging their responsibilities. Guidelines have been issued by NCTE for issuance of NOC The Court held that the power conferred on the State Government or Union Territory while considering an application for grant of NOC cannot be said to be arbitrary or an un channelled power. The guidelines issued by NCTE have to be followed while considering the application for grant of NOC It is the specific contention of the petitioner that in the NCTE Regulations there was a provision for production of NOC the State Government Union Territory. The NCTE Regulations 2002 has since been repealed and presently NCTE Regulations 2014 are in force. In the present Regulation the criteria for issuance of NOC by the affiliating body have not been mentioned. The petitioner submits that as there is no specific guideline for issuance of NOC by the affiliating body accordingly it is the duty of the affiliating body to grant NOC in favour of an applicant as and when asked for. The affiliating body is not empowered by law to look into the documents which have been sought for by the impugned The Court cannot accept the aforesaid submission made by the petitioner that the affiliating body has to grant NOC as a matter of course. NCTE has formed their own guidelines regarding the norms that are to be followed for issuance of NOC. It mentions that the affiliating body may develop their own norms and procedures for grant of NOC. Factors like credentials of the society management need for such Teacher Education Programme Institute in that district or locality university’s capacity to handle affiliation etc. may be looked into for the purpose of grant of NOC. The Board follows the practice of looking into documents prior to issuance of In the NOC the affiliating body has to certify that the proposed institution is under their jurisdiction and will be responsible for conducting the examination for students if NCTE grants permission for a particular course. To issue a certificate mentioning that the affiliating body does not have any objection for grant of recognition the affiliating body is certainly required to satisfy itself prior to issuance of the certificate as to whether they have an objection or not. To take a decision as to whether they really have an objection or not the affiliating body is required to look into the factors as has been mentioned in the guidelines of NCTE in the form of Frequently Asked Questions published by NCTE. The object of the Act being planned and coordinated development of the Teacher Education System the affiliating body is required to act in a manner so that the object of the Act can be achieved. The documents which have been sought for from the petitioner are all required for the purpose of taking a decision as to whether the management has the credentials to conduct the course applied for and the ability of the management to handle the same 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 There are a whole lot of paraphernalia that are to be complied for recognition of an institute and obtaining NOC is one of them. It is not expected that the Board will act as a mere post office and without application of mind will just put in the stamp of NOC. The Board has a vital role to play. It is on the basis of the said NOC that NCTE will take its next step. Each and every step is equally important and it is not proper to bypass or ignore a step. If one wrong step is taken the subsequent step is bound The decision passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of St. Johns supra) is a complete answer to the issue raised by the petitioner 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 Urgent certified photo copy of this judgment if applied for be supplied to the parties expeditiously on compliance of usual legal formalities ( Amrita Sinha J. 