Ranchi- The Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe a case in which students were barred from appearing in examinations despite being admitted to a Dhanbad-based technical institute approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
The order was passed while hearing a writ petition filed by the Principal of Dhanbad Institute of Technology. The court made sharp observations on the conduct of the Jharkhand University of Technology (JUT) and the AICTE, stating that the issue went far beyond a routine administrative lapse.
Following the court’s directions, the Registrar of JUT appeared before the bench. After examining the records, the court noted that the AICTE had granted approval to the institute for student admissions for the academic session 2025–26 on April 30, 2025.
Based on this approval, the institute proceeded with admissions. However, JUT later refused to allow the enrolled students to appear for their examinations.
Drawing a strong analogy, the High Court compared the situation to traffic authorities removing “No Entry” or “No Parking” signs to deliberately trap unsuspecting citizens, observing that JUT appeared to have followed a similar approach in this case.
The court observed that, prima facie, the matter involved serious interference with students’ futures and could point to grave and corrupt practices by state agencies.
In view of the seriousness of the allegations, the High Court impleaded the CBI through the Union of India as a respondent and ordered a comprehensive investigation. The agency has been directed to examine the process by which AICTE and JUT denied students the right to appear for examinations after lawful admission, as well as to identify the roles of the officials involved.
Assistant Solicitor General Prashant Pallav accepted notice on behalf of the CBI. The court instructed the agency to submit its investigation report in a sealed cover within two weeks and directed both JUT and AICTE to fully cooperate with the probe.
The case is listed for further hearing on February 3.
With inputs from IANS