The judge quashed the university’s order and directed the UGC to consider the applications of the petitioners on their own merits and in accordance with the law by conducting an inspection and passing orders within four weeks. The matter has been considered and reiterated by a division bench, the judge said. Power is vested with the commission to independently consider applications for autonomous status as per UGC regulations.

The self-imposed guidelines cannot be the sole criterion to evaluate the infrastructure and instructional facilities of institutions that seek autonomous status from the UGC. “In so far as the validity of the guidelines prescribed by Anna University is concerned, as per orders passed by the court on September 6, 2021, in the Annapoorana case, the judge had declared that these guidelines do not have any statutory force, therefore, it is a ‘self-imposed’ guidelines on the part of the university,” Justice R Suresh Kumar noted in his recent order. The university had earlier rejected their applications.

Whatsapp status tamil