The Supreme Court has arranged in an important decision that there is no need to get the approval of the AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) for the B.Tech. Diploma course done through distance education from IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University) .
The order of Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Indu Malhotra gave the writ petition to more than 20 diplomas and degree students of IGNOU. Petitioners like Mukul Kumar Sharma had demanded that the apex court order that the diploma-degree courses conducted through IGNOU free and distance education are valid. In addition, these courses are equivalent to the courses made by other regular universities or AICTE affiliated institutions.
The bench made it clear in its order that this matter has been decided on April 10 in the case of Jawaharlal Nehru Technical University vs. TCT Director, Telangana. This order was clarified that the University has been established by the State, so it is enough that the University adheres to AICTE standards for B.Tech. And Diploma.
Back order reversed by order given last year
The court said that this order will also be applicable in the case of IGNOU, which has been established by the law of Parliament. There will be strict adherence to the standards of AICTE, but the approval of the BTech degree and Diploma of AICTE will not be required. It is worth noting that the order of this bench is inversely against the order given in November last year, in which Justice Adarsh Goyal and UU Lalit’s Bench declared that B.Tech from Distance Learning is Invalid and It is necessary to get approval of AICTE first.