Gitarattan International Business School vs. Directorate of Training and Technical Education, GNCTD & Ors.
Background
The petitioner college, affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, had been granted approval by AICTE (the central technical education regulator) to run 120 seats for a Bachelor of Computer Applications programme in a second shift. The Delhi government's Directorate of Training and Technical Education (DTTE) refused to issue the mandatory No Objection Certificate for 60 of those second-shift seats, citing its own older policy guideline restricting second shifts.
Decision Breakdown
The Court held that once AICTE, the statutory regulator, had approved the intake, the State authority was bound by its own subsequent order (dated 23.07.2026) to accept that approval and issue the NOC: it could not rely on an older, superseded policy clause to override AICTE's decision. The Court found the DTTE's rejection order violated its own binding directive and set it aside, directing fresh consideration within a week.
Lesson Learnt
A government department cannot pick and choose between its own old and new policies to defeat a right that its newer, binding order already grants: administrative bodies must follow their own current directives consistently.