Engg colleges beyond the limits

Hyderabad, July 11: The Common division bench Hyderabad High Court on Monday referred that AICTE has got the power to issue orders to approval for the establishment of new engineering colleges in the state in 2017-2018. The Telangana government has challenged the single judge's order to grant licenses to the new engineering college in Ghatkasar.

The bench of acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice T. Rajani directed the court registry to place the subject matter before the larger Bench while dealing with an appeal made by the Telangana government seeking to suspend the proceedings of AICTE according to permission to a private educational institution to establish new engineering college in 2017-18.

On Monday, additional advocate-general J Ramachandra Rao told the court that there were already several engineering colleges existing in the state and thousands of seats remained vacant for the last few years. As there more colleges than required, the government, by utilizing its power under Section 20 of AP Education Act, urged the AICTE not to grant approval for new engineering colleges in the state.

By not taking this request into consideration, the AICTE granted approval for the establishment of another engineering college, he pointed out. The bench decided to refer the matter to a larger bench for adjudication.