Deemed to be univs file plea against SC order

Vinayashree J | TNN | Updated: Nov 26, 2017, 07:38 IST


 
 CHENNAI: In the wake of the Supreme Court's directive instructing 123 deemed to be universities across the country to drop the 'university' tag from their names, several institutions have decided to file an impleading petition requesting that the order be reconsidered. The petition was filed on Monday by the Education Promotion Society of India (EPSI) on their behalf.

At least 28 institutions from Tamil Nadu are among the list of 123. The executive secretary of EPSI, Palanivel, said most of the institutions in the state were part of the petition.

An official from a deemed to be university in Chennai said it was the UGC which asked institutions to use the university tag earlier. "Now, again we are being asked to drop the tag without any logical reason given for the change. This is one of the points we have raised in the petition," said the official on condition of anonymity. Officials from many institutions said the tag was used for branding purposes, adding that the change in name could Daffect admissions.

Campus heads said the move was unexpected as it was a directive arising out of a case regarding distance education courses run by deemed to be universities through correspondence. "Just because four institutions were giving out invalid engineering degrees, the rest also have come under the radar," said the head of a reputed engineering institution in Chennai.

Koteswara Rao, director, academics, Vel Tech SR and RR University, said the institution was complying with the order by dropping the university tag. The administrative head of the Chennai Mathematical Institute, Sripathi, said the institution had dropped the tag much earlier.