High Court directs KSOU to admit students directly

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court yesterday directed the UGC to pass an order by Dec. 11 on KSOU’s request for recognition to commence non-technical degree courses for 2017-18 by making in-house admissions without academic collaboration with private institutions. The Court also directed KSOU officials to meet UGC officials on Nov. 27 in Delhi and put forward their requests and clarification regarding recognition of the University for the academic year 2017-18. Justice B.V. Nagarathna, while hearing a petition by the KSOU, also directed the petitioner that students should be admitted directly by the University. Justice Nagarathna expressed disappointment that the UGC has not taken a decision on the KSOU request despite repeated directions from the Court. The Court also observed orally that the UGC cannot treat KSOU, a State-run University, like a private institution. In its petition, KSOU has stated that the UGC has not acted on its request made about eight months ago. Pointing out that the University’s recognition was withdrawn in 2015 mainly because of alleged illegalities in the academic collaborative system with private institutions. KSOU contended that the UGC should not have any difficulty in granting it recognition to commence courses run directly by the Open University.