Not satisfied with the submissions of various educational institutions challenging the decision of state board of intermediate education to close down their junior colleges for failure to have no objection certificate (NOC) from fire services department, a division bench of Telangana High Court on Thursday reserved its order in batch petitions filed seeking permission to run their colleges in the same premises. -"Students lives are more important than other things. The colleges have to be moved out of the present premises if it is not possible to fulfill the requirements specified by the board. The state govement might have woken up after a deep slumber only after the court orders", the bench observed.
The bench of Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy is dealing with batch petitions filed by Sri Chaitanya, Narayana, Gouthami and other educational institutions challenging the decision of state intermediate board ordering closure of junior colleges for failure to fulfill the requirements for affiliation.In all, there are 1084 junior colleges in the state having a strength of 2,70,492 students. In comparison, there are 1476 private junior colleges having a strength of 6,95,347 students. There are 29,808 students in the said 68 colleges which do not have fire NOC. Senior counsel CV Mohan Reddy, appearing for some of the petitioner colleges, urged the court to direct the authorities concerned to form an inspection committee and file a report with regard to granting sufficient time for installation of water shower curtains and fire brigade inlets and so on.
In fact, the existing buildings were constructed long ago and not possible to move fire service vehicles in the building premises. Water showers are provided in the event of fire accidents. Similar situation is existing even in cities like New Delhi, he added.Not satisfied with the submissions of senior counsel, the bench said that there are no merits in the present petitions.Replying to a query, state advocate general BS Prasad submitted that many institutions have shifted their colleges to new buildings and have met most of the requirements specified by the board.
Already a circular was issued regarding safety aspect of the students, he added.Special counsel for Telangana A Sanjeev Kumar informed the court that 40 junior colleges which included those belonging to Sri Chaitanya and Narayana educational institutions, have been completely closed from March 28 last year. The board had issued notices to 68 colleges informing about closure of their colleges as they have failed to get NOC from fire department for their buildings. He sought some time for filing a fresh compliance report before the court. After hearing both sides, the bench reserved its orders in batch petitions.ends.
