The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday set aside the state governments order declaring 2009-10 as zero session for BEd courses in state-run colleges and universities. Quashing the October 15,2009,government order,the Bench comprising Justices Pradeep Kant and Rituraj Awasthi imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on the government,said Prashant Chandra,main counsel of the petitioners. The court ruled that the state government on the pretext on regularising the academic session cannot declare the session zero and cause inconvenience to thousands of students and colleges, said Manish Kumar,another petitioners counsel. After the state government amended the UP State Universities (Regulation of Admission to Course of Instruction for degree in Education in Affiliated,Associated and Constituent Colleges),Order,1987,in October last year to declare the 2009-10 session as zero citing that 2007-08 and 2008-09 academic sessions were running late,over two dozen people and institutions had moved the High Court. The High Court had reserved the order on February 11,2010. While stating that it would not be possible for the colleges to admit students for the current session since they would not be able to impart minimum days of studies,the court directed the government to streamline the session from the next academic session. The colleges have been asked to initiate the admission process for 2010-2011 academic session on June 1 and complete it by June 30. The court also directed the government to conduct classes from July 1, said M M Asthana,petitioners counsel.
