MUMBAI, October 22: A division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice Ashok C Agarwal and Justice J A Patil today upheld the ban imposed by the University of Mumbai on the computer engineering branch of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, Airoli.As per this judgement, the engineering college will not be able to admit the fresh batch of 60 students to the first year course for the academic year 1997-98. The judges came to this conclusion on Wednesday after referring to the concerned Local Inquiry Committee report of Mumbai University that clearly underlined the gross inadequacy of space in the college.The engineering college, run by Manjara Charitable Trust in Navi Mumbai, was told to discontinue admitting students by the varsity in June this year.However, in August the college intimated that one Nagar Yuvak Shikshan Sanstha had agreed to provide around 2000 square feet of space in a school in Airoli, Navi Mumbai, on rent for a year. But since the university committee, headed by Dr J V N Rao, still did not find the conditions suitable for conducting the computer engineering course, the college management filed a writ petition in High Court against the state and the university in September this year.On September 17, the judges ordered the university and the director of technical education to physically verify the space provided in the said school to the engineering college. The university counsel Rui Rodrigues today argued in the court: ``The newly acquired rental accommodations of the college is not only housed in a school, it does not inspire confidence as there is no certainty of the renewal of rent next year.''Citing the recent ban on the opening of Rizvi Engineering College in Bandra by the High Court, Rodrigues added that the management had not kept its word of constructing a new building at Versova, Juhu, as it reportedly violated the Coastal Regulation Zone rules. Dr D Y Chandrachud who represented the college argued that since the management has applied to the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation to grant permission to construct a third floor in the present premises; and since the rental accommodation has already been taken, the court should take a flexible stance on the issue. He added that the college can also fulfil the AICTE condition of having a minimum of 144 teaching days in the year.However, Rodrigues pointed that at such a late stage this will lead to overloading of work on the teachers and students. In the university report, Dr Rao had also pointed that even if it is assumed that the area of 2000 square feet is used by the Rajiv Gandhi Institute in another school, then the built-up area per student goes up only marginally from 3.80 square metres per student to 3.997 square metres, which still falls too short of the AICTE norm of 11 square metres per student.
