SC orders all-India audit of pvt & deemed universities Focus On Structural Opacity & Examining Role Of Regulatory Bodies

SC orders all-India audit of pvt & deemed universities Focus On Structural Opacity & Examining Role Of Regulatory Bodies

 

Manash.Gohain@timesofindia.com New Delhi : 28.11.2025

Supreme Court has ordered an unprecedented nationwide audit of all private and deemed universities, transforming a student grievance into a deep scrutiny of India’s sprawling higher education sector. In a sweeping directive, apex court has asked Centre, all states and UTs, and University Grants Commission (UGC) to submit personally sworn affidavits disclosing how these institutions were set up, who governs them, what regulatory approvals they hold, and whether they truly function on a notfor-profit basis. 

The move comes in response to a petition filed by a student of Amity University, Ayesha Jain, who alleged the institution harassed and barred her from attending classes after she legally changed her name. What began as a single case of administrative apathy has now turned into a judicial inquisition into the governance and financial practices of the entire private university ecosystem. 

Supreme Court’s focus is clear — expose the structural opacity and examine whether regulatory bodies like UGC have adequately performed their role. Past interventions show this isn’t unfamiliar terrain. In 2005, the court struck down Chhattisgarh Private Universities Act that had allowed over 100 shell institutions to operate without basic academic infrastructure. 

In 2009, a central review found 44 deemed universities unfit for their status due to poor academic and governance standards. In 2017, a Supreme Court verdict invalidated engineering degrees awarded via unapproved distance mode by deemed universities and barred them from conducting such courses without clear regulatory approval. This current review cuts deeper. It questions how private universities acquire land, appoint leadership, handle finances, and whether they have credible grievance redressal mechanisms.

 The demand for personal accountability — from chief secretaries to the UGC chairperson — signals judicial impatience with the status quo. A UGC official, on condition of anonymity, acknowledged: “There have been longstanding compliance gaps. This is a chance to restore public trust.” The official added that in the current case, the commission “in fact recommended the university to consider the name change request”. 

Private universities, many of which operate under different state and central laws, are rattled. “This is a sweeping brush,” said a vice chancellor of a reputed state private university. “We support transparency, but we also fear being tarred with the same brush as a few errant institutions.” Observers see timing in the court’s action. Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill, intended to overhaul regulation and merge UGC, AICTE, and others under one roof, is expected in the upcoming Parliament session.

 “An issue concerning a private university legislated by state law is now expanded to rope in all private deemed universities governed by separate regulations under a central law. In a similar exercise, in 2017 in the case of Orissa Lift case, an issue concerning four deemed universities affected all in an irreversible manner. With HECI round the corner, it is hoped that the present issue finds a policy solution through HECI Bill,” said an academic policy expert.

House can’t be turned into prayer meeting hall sans govt nod: Madras High Court

House can’t be turned into prayer meeting hall sans govt nod: Madras High Court 

The court said that if the petitioner intends to convert the property into a prayer hall, he should get proper permission from the district collector.

Citing a ruling on the issue, the Court said it is clear from the judgment that conducting prayer meetings in a hall requires obtaining permission from the authority concerned under the relevant rules.

Express News Service Updated on: 22 Jun 2025, 9:18 am 1

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has held that a house cannot be converted into a prayer meeting hall without obtaining proper permission from the government authorities concerned.

Justice N Anand Venkatesh made the observation while disposing of a petition filed by L Joseph Wilson, a pastor from Kodavasal in Tiruvarur district, praying for quashing a 2024 order of the jurisdictional tahsildar to seal his house, preventing him from holding prayer meetings.

Citing a ruling on the issue, the judge said it is clear from the judgment that conducting prayer meetings in a hall requires obtaining permission from the authority concerned under the relevant rules. Hence, the petitioner cannot, as a matter of right, have a prayer hall to conduct prayer meetings without obtaining permission, he said in a recent order.

Referring to the petitioner’s undertaking that he would not use the public address system, the judge said non-usage of the loudspeaker and microphone will not solve the issue. “The crux of the issue is that the petitioner cannot convert a house into a prayer hall to conduct prayer meetings. That requires proper permission from the authorities,” he said.

The judge directed the tahsildar to remove the seal on the petitioner’s property if it is not utilised for prayer meetings. If the petitioner intends to convert the property into a prayer hall, he should get proper permission from the district collector, the judge stated, adding in case of utilisation of the building for prayer meetings, the respondent authorities can take appropriate action in accordance with the law.

Government advocate T M Rajangam appeared for the respondent authorities.

No maintenance for educated wife, HC advises her to work

No maintenance for educated wife, HC advises her to work

Abhinav.Garg@timesofindia.com 20.03.2025

New Delhi : Delhi High Court has underlined that a well-educated wife qualified to work must not deliberately remain idle, only to receive maintenance from the husband. Denying relief to one such estranged wife who did her master’s in international business from Australia and worked in Dubai but preferred not to work, the court stressed that law doesn’t promote idling. “A well-educated wife, with experience in a suitable gainful job, ought not to remain idle solely to gain maintenance from her husband. Therefore, interim maintenance is being discouraged in the present case as this court can see potential in the petitioner to earn and make good of her education,” Justice CD Singh observed on Tuesday. 

The court said wives having the earning capacity and qualification but remaining idle should not set up a claim for interim maintenance. “Section 125 of CrPC carries the legislative intent to maintain equality among the spouses, provide protection to the wives, children and parents, and not promote idleness... A well-educated wife, with ex perience in a suitable gainful job, ought not to remain idle solely to gain maintenance from her husband,” it observed, dismissing the woman’s plea against a trial court order denying her interim maintenance from her husband. HC explained that courts need to be satisfied if the wife is genuinely in need of maintenance and the factors leading to such a need for maintenance and encouraged the petitioner to look for a job to become self-sufficient, saying she had wide exposure and was aware of worldly affairs, unlike other uneducated women who were completely dependent on their spouses for basic sustenance. 

“This court is unable to comprehend the fact as to why, despite being able-bodied and well qualified, the petitioner has chosen to remain idle since her return to India,” the bench noted, acknowledging her qualifications and past employment record. “There is no reason why she ought not to be in a position to also maintain herself in the future.” It added that though the woman claimed she was trying to find a job, neither did she place any evidence to support her claim nor resume her business activities. “Mere assertion of job-seeking, without corroborative evidence, is insufficient to establish genuine efforts of self-sufficiency,” it noted. The court highlighted WhatsApp chats between the woman and her mother where the latter advises that employment would jeopardise the alimony claims. 

“This communication, preceding the maintenance petition, strongly suggests a deliberate attempt to remain unemployed to seek maintenance claims,” the court said. The couple married in Dec 2019 and left for Singapore. The woman said she returned to India in Feb 2021 allegedly because of the cruelty meted out to her by her estranged husband and his family members. In June 2021, she filed a petition for maintenance.