No mercy verdict
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: November 06 2012 -

Although it was related to a Madhya Pradesh-based institute, students and parents in Manipur could very well learn a lesson from the Supreme Court verdict which said that students taking admission in educational institutions without verifying whether they are recognised or not should themselves be blamed for any eventuality.

Setting aside an earlier order of Madhya Pradesh High which had directed that the students of Diploma in Elementary Education, who have been admitted for the academic session 2010-11, should be allowed to undertake the examination, a division bench of the Supreme Court comprising Juctices KS Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra on November 4 ruled that no mercy should be given to the students in case recognition is not granted to the institute.

The ruling made it clear that 'the students who take admission are not young in age. They are graduates. They are expected to enquire whether the institution has recognition and affiliation."

The bench went on to observe, "If we allow ourselves to say so, the institution had given admission in a nonchalant manner.

Possibly, its functionaries harboured the idea that they had incomparable fertile mind. The students who had taken admission possibly immersed with the idea that ignorance is a bliss."

We are taking the liberty of quoting and reproducing the entire ruling of the apex court here to drive home that point that the career of any student could be jeopardised if one does not take to find out the credential of an institution before seeking admission.

There have been many cases in Manipur where gullible students and their parents fall prey to such institution imparting a course or two without obeying the command of law in letter and spirit.

With the trend of Manipuri parents/guardians wanting to send their children outside the State for higher studies at the first given opportunity in view of the unsettling situation prevailing back home picking up, it calls for caution against unrecognised institutes that are mushrooming up in every nook and cranny of the country with an eye on minting money and nothing else.

While admission to such unrecognised institutes can definitely mar the career of the students, the question that still remains to be answered is why do the authorities concerned turn blind eye on such institutions and allow them to admit students?

The Supreme Court of India should also have an answer to this question.