Somya Gupta & Ors v. Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University & Anr.

1. These writ petitions involve cognate and similar issues and are, therefore, being taken up for consideration and decision vide this common judgment.

2. For ease of reference, the judgment would refer to the facts obtaining in W.P. (C) 12097/2018 (Somya Gupta v. GGSIPU), which was taken up as the lead case in this batch. It may be noted that common arguments were advanced, on behalf of the Respondent- University, in all these writ petitions. Facts

3. The eight petitioners in W.P. (C) 12097/2018 have all completed the first two semesters of their undergraduate education, constituting the first year thereof, from various universities. A tabular representation, thereof, may be presented as under: Petitioner No. Name University

4. It would thus be seen that the “parent” Universities, where the petitioners had completed their first and second semesters, constituted an eclectic mix.

5. The Respondent No 1-University (hereinafter referred to as “the GGSIPU”) was created, and is governed by the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University Act, 1998 (hereinafter referred to as “the GGSIPU Act”). In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 27 of the said Act, the Board of Management of the GGSIPU revised Ordinance 7, which related to migration of students, in 2015. Clause

1.0 of the said Ordinance reads thus: “Ordinance 7

1.0 No migration shall be allowed from other Universities/Colleges to the University Schools of Studies, University maintained colleges or affiliated institutions i.e. no inter-university migration shall be allowed in normal circumstances. It can be allowed in the beginning of second tier/Semester only under special circumstances by the Vice- Chancellor, on the recommendations of the subcommittee, comprising of three members of Academic Council, constituted by the Vice- Chancellor subject to the condition that the applicant student/candidate must have cleared each paper of both the semesters of first year/ or all papers of the first year as it applies for a particular programme. It must be ensured that there should not be any gap between the 1st year and the 2nd year of a particular programme meaning thereby that the pursuance of the programme remains continuous.”

6. Under the afore-extracted Clause 1.0 of Ordinance 7, the GGSIPU issued the following Notice, on 9th August, 2018, inviting applications from students who wished to migrate: “No IPU-7/Acad/Migration-2018/2018-19/4712 Dated: 09/08/18 NOTICE Subject: Migration (Change of shift, Mutual Migration, Intra University, Inter University) of the students admitted in 1st Semester in the Academic Session 2017-18 In pursuance of Provisions in Ordinance 7 (Migration of Students) GGSIPU Act, No 9 of 1998, Candidates seeking Migration (Change of Shift, Mutual Migration, Intra-University, Inter-University) in various programmes in Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University are required to submit the following:

1. Migration Application

2. No Objection Certificate (NOCs) from both the Institutes

3. Copy of result of first year (both semesters)

4. Copy of Result of Class 12th qualifying examination documents as per the eligibility criteria. The above documents may be submitted between 09th August 2018 to 17th August 2018 (11 AM to 3 PM) only on University working days in, Admission Branch, Administrative Block, GGSIPU Dwarka. Candidates desirous of seeking Migration should also fulfill the Eligibility Criteria for the programme applying for migration as laid down in the Admission Brochure for the Academic Session 2017-18. As per Amended provision of Migration Ordinance 7: No migration is permitted into the Medical Colleges of the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University from any Institution/College. Issuance of No Objection Certificate (NOCs) from the Institute does not imply cancellation of Admission from the particular college, it only means consent for migration given by the College. Submission of Migration application does not imply that the migration will be carried out. Migration will be effective from third semester for the Academic Session 2018-19. Enclosed: – Copy of Ordinance 7, GGSIPU Act 09 of 1998 Sd/- (Pravin Chandra) Incharge, Admissions”

7. Vide subsequent Notice dated 19th August, 2018, the last date, for submission of applications by students seeking migration to colleges under the GGSIPU, was extended till 21st August, 2018. The petitioners admittedly submitted their respective applications, seeking migration, from the Universities in which they were studying heretofore, and under which they had completed their first and second semesters, to the GGSIPU, before the prescribed cut-off date of 21st August 2018. All requisite details and documents were submitted with the applications, including the NOCs from their earlier Universities and from the Institute, i.e. the college affiliated to the GGSIPU, to which they desired to migrate.

8. Though the Admission Brochure of the GGSIPU, for the Academic Session 2017-18 has not been made available by any of the parties, it is not in controversy that the petitioners, in the present case, qualified the eligibility criteria for migration, which was passing of the 12th standard examination and obtaining minimum qualifying marks therein.

9. The colleges, affiliated to the GGSIPU, to which the petitioners desire to migrate – in the case of the petitioners in W.P. (C) 12097/2018, the Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies (hereinafter referred to as “the VIPS”) – allowed the petitioners, consequent to the submission of their applications for migration, to join and attend the third semester classes under them, awaiting the decision of the GGSIPU on the petitioner’s applications for migration. The College states that this was permitted in order to enable the concerned applicants to attend the number of classes required, to entitle them to appear in the third semester examinations.