HC Directs Govt. To Finalize a Location for Construction of Permanent Campus For NIT, Uttarakhand, Within Four Months[Read Judgment]

Resolving a decade long deadlock between the Central Government and the State Government, the Uttarakhand High Court on Monday issued directions for identification of a suitable location and construction of permanent campus of NIT, Uttarakhand. The judgment, passed by a division bench led by Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan, who is set to retire today, comes as a big relief to the students of NIT, Uttarakhand, who have been the ultimate victims of "bureaucratic apathy" and "indifference". The bench, also comprised of Justice Ramesh Chandra Khulbe has ordered the Central Government to seek expert opinion and finalize a location for construction of permanent campus of NIT, Uttarakhand, within four months. In the meanwhile, it has been directed to consider the detailed project report submitted by team of architects and engineers of IIT Roorkee, regarding provision of infrastructural facilities at the temporary campus of NIT, Uttarakhand at Srinagar, and release the funds required for implementation thereof. Background A piece of land that was allotted by the State of Uttarakhand in 2013 in Sumari region of the State for the NIT campus was later rejected by MHRD, Government of India in 2016, based on expert reports that the region was not fit to build a permanent campus for institutions of higher learning, as it was prone to landslides and earthquakes. Despite high level letter exchanges between the Central and the State Government, the deadlock continued and even the temporary campus facilities for the students at Srinagar suffered. This led to filing of the present PIL in the year 2018, by an alumnus of NIT, Uttarakhand. During the pendency of the writ petition, students studying at the temporary campus of NIT at Srinagar, in the first, second and third year of their B.Tech course, were shifted to the Jaipur Campus of the NIT in Rajasthan. Later, the Union of India decided on Sumari as the permanent campus of NIT, Uttarakhand, with a view "to end the impasse". Findings In its judgment, the division bench has examined the scope of its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution to interfere with the expert reports and policy decisions of the Government, vis-à-vis welfare of students. "While it is not open to the High Court, in the exercise of its powers of judicial review, to substitute its views for that of the Central Government, the Court can, on being satisfied that the decision, to locate the permanent campus at Sumari, "only to end the impasse", is irrational and arbitrary, direct the Government of India to re-examine the matter from the safety angle, seek expert opinion in this regard, and then take a conscious decision on whether Sumari, as the location for the permanent campus of NIT, Uttarakhand, satisfies the minimum safety norms required to house the students and the faculty of NIT," the bench has held. Failure to satisfy the tests of rationality and reasonableness would render the decision violative of Article 14 of the Constitution Ordinarily, the Courts refrain from interfering with the policy decisions taken by the Government. In the present case however, the division bench noted that the decision to build permanent campus in Samurai area was irrational inasmuch as the safety of students and faculty, for whose benefit the Institution is primarily established, had been completely ignored. It noted that the geo-technical survey carried out by the Geological Survey of India did not indicate the safety of students and staff having been taken into consideration in making its recommendations that the land at Sumari is suitable. While earlier the MHRD had informed the Chief Secretary Government of Uttarakhand that the land at Sumari was found unsuitable as it was prone to landslides; and the safety of students and staff would be a constraint concern, the GoI had suddenly agreed on the same location merely "to end the impasse." In view of these circumstances the Court held, "Decisions, even those falling within the realm of executive policy, cannot be taken in such a casual manner. Ending an impasse between the Centre and the State is no ground for the Government of India to agree for the permanent campus of the NIT, Uttarakhand to be located at Sumari. Such a decision smacks of irrationality, and suffers from manifest arbitrariness falling foul of Article 14 of the Constitution of India." Need for Courts to defer to expert opinion The bench was alive of the fact that findings of expert bodies, in technical and scientific matters, cannot ordinarily be interfered with by Courts in the exercise of their jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution. "Defer to the reports, of these expert bodies, we must," the bench remarked. However, it proceeded to observe that deference does not mean that the plight of the students and the staff of NIT should be ignored by Courts, "for even...

HC Directs Govt. To Finalize a Location for Construction of Permanent Campus For NIT, Uttarakhand, Within Four Months[Read Judgment]

Akshita Saxena

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