New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday enquired about distance learning courses offered by state universities beyond their territorial limits after a petition filed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) objected to the validity of the degrees offered to students who enrolled in such courses after 2015.
With the fate of several students relying on it, the Madras high court on January 20 had passed an order where it upheld the UGC circular issued in August 2015 that directed Annamalai University in Tamil Nadu and other private universities offering distance learning courses not to enroll students beyond the territorial limits of the state.
The universities separately challenged this circular in the high court where interim orders were passed from time to time, protecting the admissions. But in the final order of January 20, the HC ruled in favour of the UGC but protected those students who had already enrolled in distance learning courses under interim orders passed from time to time.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for UGC along with advocate Apoorv Kurup, said that once the UGC circular has been upheld, the admissions could not be declared valid as the interim orders would be subject to the final outcome of the petitions filed by individual universities.
The UGC claimed that its 2015 circular was based on a judgment of the Supreme Court in a 2005 case titled ‘Professor Yashpal vs State of Chhattisgarh’ where the court held that the territorial jurisdiction of state universities is limited to their territorial boundaries.
The letter issued by UGC required all state universities to stop all forms of off-campus/study centres/affiliated colleges or centres operating through franchise beyond their territorial limits.
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