Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court was urged on Thursday to instruct the Higher Education Department to either conduct a fresh mop-up round of counselling for the TGEAPCET for the academic year 2024-25 or permit engineering colleges to fill seats through spot admissions.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J. Sreenivas Rao heard a series of 11 writ petitions filed by MGR Educational Society and others. These petitions challenge the state government’s application of Section 20 of the Telangana Education Act, 1982, represented by the Principal Secretary of the Higher Education Department.
The petitioners argued that the application of this section, as it relates to the AICTE approvals granted under Section 10(k) of the AICTE Act, 1987, is unconstitutional. They claimed it violates Article 254 of the Constitution and should therefore be struck down.
The petitioners requested the court to interpret Section 20 in a way that requires a prior educational survey before the AICTE considers new or renewal applications for the upcoming academic year. This interpretation, they argued, would align the section with Regulation 6(2) of the AICTE Regulations and Section 10(k) of the AICTE Act, 1987, as interpreted by the Supreme Court.
After hearing the petitioners’ arguments, the bench adjourned the matter to September 4 for further consideration.
