BITS Pilani drags UGC to court over shutting down of off-campus centres

Over a month back, we told you about the notices that University Grants Commission (UGC) sent to ten of India's best-known institutes, including TIFR, NMIMS, HBNI, and BITS Pilani. The notices had asked these universities to 'immediately' shut down their allegedly 'unauthorised' off-campus centres.

However, one of these universities hasn’t quite liked the matter, and has moved to court to fight a legal battle.

The institute in question is BITS, Pilani, an institute which is a deemed university and is quite reputed in India. Last week, the institute’s management filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court, challenging the said UGC notice. The petition would be heard in the high court today.

Senior advocate Harish Salve would be fighting the case for BITS Pilani, and would aim to seek a stay on UGC's closure orders for its off-campus centres.

BITS-Pilani has in the past opined that the 2010 deemed university guidelines quoted in the UGC notice had "no statutory force, and the establishment of our campuses pre-dates the regulations in question, which are prospective in nature, and further that the validity of these regulations is itself sub judice, and so it is beyond the legal power of UGC to issue such a notice".

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