Going against orders of the Bombay High Court order of shutting down the college, the Parshvanath College of Engineering has appealed to the Supreme Court.
While the institute awaits the SC’s hearing, that is expected to take place on Wednesday, the fate of 1,400 students is still in limbo as the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) is yet to receive any orders about moving the students to other colleges.
The Bombay High Court retained the order of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) of shutting down the Thane college on the grounds of inappropriate land and building documents and unavailability of an occupancy certificate.
Professor Samir Nanivadekar, public relations officer of the institute, confirmed that the management has approached the Supreme Court in this issue. “We are expecting the matter to come up for hearing on Wednesday,” he said.
SS Mantha, chairman of the AICTE, said that the issue has been ongoing continues since 2010. “The institute was sent withdrawal orders twice but managed to get a stay on our orders by going to court and continued admissions. Now it has been given same orders by the court.”
Mantha added that they have written to the state and the concerned university about moving the students to other engineering colleges. “Extra seats in certain colleges will be created if needed,” the chairman said. “We have done this before with different institutes that have failed to meet the requirements; we do not understand why it is such a big issue.”
However, the DTE, which is responsible for shifting of students in the state, is yet to receive any orders from the government or the AICTE. SK Mahajan, director of the DTE, said, “The orders are yet to arrive. We hope the orders will follow once the court’s judgment copy is out.”
Sources at the DTE office the institute might be able to get a stay on the HC order as it has now gone to the Supreme Court. This, in turn, might create confusion and delay the transfer of the students, they said.
