IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI W.P.(C) NO. _________/2018 IN THE MATTER OF:PRATHAM SHARMA …PETITIONER VERSUS THE WB NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF JURIDICAL SCIENCES &Ors. …RESPONDENTS INDEX S.No. PARTICLUARS Page no. 1. Notice of Motion 2. Urgent application 3. Memo of Parties 4. List of Dates & Events 5. Civil Writ Petition Under Article 226 Of The Constitution Of India Inter Alia Praying For A Writ Or Direction In The Nature Of Certiorari/Mandamus Seeking To Quash And Set Aside The Impugned Circular Dated 27.06.2018 ANNEXURE A-1 Copy of circular 6. dated 27.06.2018 7. ANNEXURE A-2: Copy of the advertisements courses. 8. ANNEXURE of A-3: the online Copy application form. 9. ANNEXURE A-4 : Copy of the payment slip dated 17.02.2018 of 10. 11. ANNEXURE A-5: Copy of the Article Broadcasted by the Respondent No. 3 ANNEXURE A-6: Copy of the representation dated 3.08.2018 12. Application for exemption with Affidavit 13. Application for stay alongwith affidavit. 14. Vakalatnama NEW DELHI DATED SM&M Advocates and Solicitors (Sahib Gurdeep Singh, Siddhant Sethi, DarylMenzes) Advocates for Petitioner Ch. No. 481, Block II, Delhi High Court 9999496532 IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI W.P.(C) NO. _________/2018 IN THE MATTER OF:PRATHAM SHARMA …PETITIONER VERSUS THE WB NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF JURIDICAL SCIENCES &Ors. …RESPONDENTS NOTICE OF MOTION Please take notice that the accompanying W.P.(C) No.________/2018 will be listed before the Hon’ble High Court on July 2018 or so soon thereafter as may be convenient to the Hon’ble Court. NEW DELHI DATED SM&M Advocates and Solicitors (Sahib Gurdeep Singh, Siddhant Sethi, DarylMenzes) Advocates for Petitioner Ch. No. 481, Block II, Delhi High Court 9999496532 IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI W.P.(C) NO. _________/2018 IN THE MATTER OF:PRATHAM SHARMA …PETITIONER VERSUS THE WB NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF JURIDICAL SCIENCES &Ors. …RESPONDENTS URGENT APPLICATION To The Registrar, High Court of Delhi, New Delhi. Sir, Kindly treat the accompanying petition as an urgent one under the rules and regulations of the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi. Grounds of urgency are :_ Urgent direction for setting aside of the circular dated 26.07.2018 has been prayed for. NEW DELHI DATED SM&M Advocates and Solicitors (Sahib Gurdeep Singh, Siddhant Sethi, DarylMenzes) Advocates for Petitioner Ch. No. 481, Block II, Delhi High Court 9999496532 IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI NO. /2018 IN THE MATTER PRATHAM SHARMA VERSUS THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF JURIDICAL SCIENCES &Orsi MEMQ QF PARTIES 1. Pratham Sharma VERSUS 1. The WB National University of Juridical Sciences Dr. Ambedkar Bhavan 12, LB Block, Sector [11, Salt Lake City Kolkata 7 700098 no. 1 2. State of West Bengal Respondent No. 2 3. iPleaders 33 A, Mehrauli - Badarpur Rd, Saidulajab, New Delhi, 110030 No. 3 NEW DELHI DATED SM&M Advocates and Solicitors (Sahib Gurdeep Singh, Siddhant Sethi, DarylMenzes) Advocates for Petitioner Ch. No. 481, Block II, Delhi High Court 9999496532 IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI W.P.(C) NO. _________/2018 IN THE MATTER OF:PRATHAM SHARMA …PETITIONER VERSUS THE WB NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF JURIDICAL SCIENCES &Ors. …RESPONDENTS CIVIL WRIT PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA INTER ALIA PRAYING FOR A WRIT OR DIRECTION IN THE NATURE OF CERTIORARI/MANDAMUS SEEKING TO QUASH AND SET ASIDE THE IMPUGNED CIRCULAR DATED 27.06.2018, WHEREBY THE RESPONDENT No. 1 HAS UNILATERALLY SUSPENDED ‘ALL FUTURE ACTIVITIES PERTAINING TO DISTANT EDUCATION AND ONLINE COURSES SHOULD BE PUT ON STATUS QUO…’ AND HAS ARBITRARILY DECLARED THAT ‘…ALL ENROLLMENTS FOR THESE ONLINE AND DISTANCE EDUCATION COURSES WHICH USED TO BE RUN BY THE UNIVERSITY THROUGH PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED TILL FURTHER ORDER…’ To, The Hon’ble Acting Chief Justice and her companion judges of this Hon’ble High Court of Delhi at New Delhi MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH: 1. That the present Writ Petition has been filed by the petitioner seeking accommodation from this Hon’ble Court in the form of a writ against the impugned circular dated 27.06.2018 issued by the Respondent No. 1 whereby the Respondent no. 1 has unilaterally suspended and arbitrarily declared that ‘all future activities pertaining to distant education and online courses should be put on status quo…all enrollments for these online and distance education courses which used to be run by the university through private partnerships have been suspended till further order….’The copy of circular dated 27.06.2018 has been annexed herein as Annexure A-1. 2. That the actions of the Respondent No.1 are patently illegal and inimical to principles of natural justice and further violate the Petitioner’s Fundamental rights enunciated in the Constitution of India and thus victimizes the Petitioner by making a unilateral direction affecting the career and profession of the Petitioner. The educational course (1 Year Diploma Course) which the petitioner was undertaking since the past fifteen weeks has been abruptly stopped in the middle of the session causing grave prejudice to the petitioner and violating his basic fundamental rights. BRIEF FACTS: 1. That the Petitioner is student of law currently pursuing his LLB from Campus Law Center, Delhi University and is currently studying in 2nd year. 2. That the Respondent No. 1 is a government institution providing graduate and post graduate courses in the field of legal education to students all over the nation as well as international students. The Respondent No. 1 being a government educational institution has been instituted under the authority and provisions of the WB NUJS Act, 1999. Act No. 9/1999 and has been notified under clause F of section 2 of the UGC Act 1956 and is under the aegis of Respondent No. 2. 3. That the Respondent No. 3 is private entity formed under the Indian Partnership Act and is a LLP providing services to various institutions, students of law and public at large by providing an online platform/management for the certificate courses and diploma courses in association with universities/colleges via world wide web through their portal www.lawsikho.com. 4. That the Respondent No.1 with technological aid of the Respondent No. 3 has been running various online diploma and certificate courses since 2012 inviting students and professionals from different parts of the world to pursue the same. It is pertinent to mention herein that all these courses bear the name, benefaction, acknowledgement and sanction of the respondent No.1, i.e. NUJS Kolkata. So far over 4000 students and professionals have finished such online courses and have received diplomas and certificates bearing the name, emblem and the signatures/stamp of the Respondent No. 1 and currently there are around 3000 existing students of online courses of Respondent no. 1. 5. That the Respondent No. 1 with the aid of Respondent No.3 has extensively advertised their diploma courses through running ads, on different platforms available on the world wide web, to draw and attract students and professionals to take up these online diploma courses to provide a supplementary benefit to their career. The testimonials of people who undertook the above stated online courses provided by the Respondent No.1 are freely available on https://onlinecourses.nujs.edu/. The advertisements of the said courses ran by the Respondent No. 1 specifically claims that these courses are managed by Respondent No. 3. The copy of the advertisements has been annexed herein as Annexure A 2. 6. That the Petitioner being a law student in Delhi came across one of such advertisements and applied for the one year online diploma course on Entrepreneurship and Business Law for the term 2018-19 with the sole reason that this diploma course would not only add to his knowledge but it being sanctioned by the respondent No. 1 would also add to his curriculum vitae which would in future help him in securing a prestigious job. The copy of application form has been annexed herein as Annexure A-3. 7. That in furtherance of undergoing the said diploma course the petitioner paid a full payment of Rs. 30711 on 17.02.2018, which was pre condition for enrollment in the said diploma course. The copy of the payment slip dated 17.02.2018 has been annexed herein as Annexure A-4. 8. That it is pertinent to mention that the Petitioner applied for the above stated course on the official website of the Respondent No.1 i.e. www.nujs.edu&www.nujs.ac.in in Delhi. The petitioner made the payment for the said course directly on the site of the Respondent No. 1. 9. That petitioner has been undergoing the above stated course since February 2018 and the course has been successfully going on for more than 15 weeks and has been functioning smoothly hitherto. The Respondent No. 1 frantically and without any prior notice to any of the students who applied for the said course passed the impugned circular on their official website. 10. That it came as a shock to the Petitioner when he got aware about the impugned circular, as the circular had an effect of suspending every online course including the Petitioner’s course and also directed for status quo on the already going on courses except the courseswhich are purely University initiative. 11. That the Petitioner after getting the news regarding suspension of course approached Respondent No. 1 and 3 regarding the same. In answer to the same the Respondent No.1 has been standing silent and Respondent No. 3 is completely clueless about the whole situation. 12. That being aggrieved by the impugned circular, around more than 3000 existing students made a representation in their own capacity to the respondent No. 3, in reply of which the Respondent 3. Broadcasted an Article pertaining to the whole ruckus that has been created by the impugned circular stating that: a. Respondent No. 3 is merely a manager of courses and it is clear that these are courses sanctioned and provided by the Respondent No. 1. b. Approx. 15% of NUJS’s annual budget comes from these courses and Respondent No.1 has received multiple accolades and awards for conducting the same. c. The Respondent No. 1 is utterly silent on the issue and is not ready to grant a personal hearing to anybody. d. All the students who have enrolled in online courses have enrolled with respondent No. 1 in courses announced by Respondent No.1 on its website and made all payments to Respondent No. 1. e. Students who have completed their courses are being denied of their right to receive certificates and students who have appeared in assessments and exams are being denied of their right to know the results. f. Respondent No. 3 is helpless and cannot aid the students in protection of their fundamental rights. g. Respondent No 1 has been acting in the most negligent manner by not taking any responsibility for their unilateral and illegal actions. The copy of the Article Broadcasted by the Respondent No. 3 has been annexed herein as Annexure A-5 13. That on a bare perusal of the Article issued by the Respondent No. 3 it is apparent that Respondent No.1 and 3 have reached an impasse due to their business related issues which is victimizing and adversely affecting the Petitioner and his professional career. 14. That since no grievances of the Petitioner was redressed by any of the Respondents; the Petitioner wrote a representation to both the Respondent No. 1 which was all futile as no action was taken to redress the grievances of the Petitioner. The copy of the representation dated 3.08.2018 has been annexed herein as Annexure A-6. 15. That it is further stated that the relation between the Respondent No.1 and 3 is based through a MOU, which is the core point for all the disputes between the two Respondents. Further the Respondent No. 3 through their article has decided to refer their dispute with NUJS to arbitration. 16. That it is a matter of fact that the Respondent No.1 is solely responsible for evaluation of assessments and issuance of certificates to the students who pass the exam. It is also pertinent state that the Respondent No.3 has undertook as per their own article that they will keep on performing their part of the contract and will therefore continue with the course. 17. That in light of the above facts and circumstances the following grounds is taken to support the same along with the grounds taken during the arguments. GROUNDS a. Because the action of the Respondent No. 3 is inherently and patently wrong and illegal being inimical to the principles of natural justice and is in violation of the fundamental rights of the Petitioner under Article 14, 19 & 21 of the Constitution of India. b. Because the Respondent No. 1 unilaterally suspended the course of the Petitioner without any justified reason and the impugned notice in itself is a non speaking order giving absolutely no reasons for the directions issued under the impugned notice. c. Because the Respondent No. 1 has acted in the most negligent manner overlooking the interest of the Petitioner and all the students enrolled in the subject diploma course by giving a retrospective color to their impugned directions whereby suspending the already functional courses in the midst without letting them complete their full term. It is to be taken into consideration that on cannot change the rules of the game once the game has started. d. Because the Respondent No.1 has put the future and career of the Petitioner in some serious jeopardy thus this Hon’ble Court’s intervention is of utmost necessity to safeguard the innate interest lying with the Petitioner. e. Because it is a matter of law that any act or action if is in total contradiction and violation of any of the fundamental rights of the citizens of this nation, then such action or law should be declared unconstitutional. f. Because the Respondent No. 1 has arbitrarily ended the online diploma courses amongst other courses mid-session which is adversely affecting the petitioner herein and is illegal, not to mention illogical. The course being undertaken by the petitioner is into its fourth month and now all of a sudden after receiving due payments from the petitioner, the Respondent No. 1 has abruptly stopped the said course mid term, this is extremely unfortunate conduct on part of a prestigious educational institution and has been done in the most illegal manner. g. Because it is extravagantly irresponsible on the part of the Respondent No. 1 as they issued the impugned circular without any justifying reasons. It is pertinent to state that as per the Respondent No. 3 there has occurred a dispute between the Respondent No. 3 and 1 regarding the functional MoU between both, one has to understand that any dispute between Respondent no. 2 and 3 should not act as an adversary against the Petitioner and any fight b/w two entities should not affect the student’s education as the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Mohinijain vs State of Karnataka 1192 AIR 1858: ‘mention of 'life and personal liberty' in Article 21 of the Constitution[1] automatically implies some other rights, those are necessary for the full development of the personality, though they are not enumerated in Part III of the Constitution. Education is one such factor responsible for overall development of an individual and therefore, right to education is integrated in Article 21 of the Constitution.’ 18. That the petitioner declares that he has no efficacious remedy except the present one is therefore moving the present petition. 19. That this Hon’ble Court has the requisite jurisdiction to adjudicate the present matter, thus the present petition is maintainable as this Hon’ble court has the territorial jurisdiction over the present matter. PRAYER In view of the above facts and circumstances of the matter this Hon’ble court may be pleased: a. To pass an order setting aside the impugned circular dated 27.06.2018 and directing the Respondent No. 1 to continue with online diploma course in a regular manner for the preset term and provide with the certificate on completion of the same. b. To pass an order declaring the actions of the Respondent No. 1 as illegal and arbitrary being inimical to principles of natural justice. c. To any other order this court may deem fit. Petitioner Through NEW DELHI DATED SM&M Advocates and Solicitors (Sahib Gurdeep Singh, Siddhant Sethi, DarylMenzes) Advocates for Petitioner Ch. No. 481, Block II, Delhi High Court 9999496532 IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI W.P.(C) NO. _________/2018 IN THE MATTER OF:- PRATHAM SHARMA …PETITIONER VERSUS THE WB NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF JURIDICAL SCIENCES &Ors. …RESPONDENTS AFFIDAVIT I, Pratham Sharma, S/o Ashish Sharma, R/o Flat No. 60B, Pocket A-14, Himgiri Apartments, Kalkaji Ext, New Delhi- 110019 aged about 2 years, do hereby solemnly state and affirm as under :1. That I am the Petitioner in the above matter and as such fully conversant with the facts and circumstances of the case and am competent to depose the present Affidavit. 2. That the contents of the accompanying Petition and applications are true and correct to my knowledge and belief and no part of it is false and nothing material has been concealed therefrom. DEPONENT VERIFICATION Verified at New Delhi, on this … day July 2018 that the contents of the paras 1 to 2 of the above affidavit are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief and that nothing material has been concealed therefrom. DEPONENT IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI C.M. NO.____/2018 IN W.P.(C) NO. _________/2018 IN THE MATTER OF:PRATHAM SHARMA …PETITIONER VERSUS THE WB NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF JURIDICAL SCIENCES &Ors. …RESPONDENTS APPLICATION U/S 151 CPC FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING NEATLY TYPED/ PROPERLY MARGINED COPIES OF DIM ANNEXURES AND CERTIFIED COPIES. MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH: 1. That the present Writ Petition has been filed by the petitioner seeking accommodation from this Hon’ble Court in the form of a writ against the impugned circular dated 27.06.2018 issued by the Respondent No. 1 whereby the Respondent no. 1 has unilaterally suspended and arbitrarily declared that ‘all future activities pertaining to distant education and online courses should be put on status quo…all enrollments for these online and distance education courses which used to be run by the university through private partnerships have been suspended till further order…. 2. That the true typed/ properly margined copies of dim annexures are not readily available with the petitioner. 3. That the matter is of very urgent nature and the exemption is being sought from this Hon’ble Court. 4. That due to paucity of time and in view of the urgency of the matter the petitioner could not obtain the true typed / properly margined copies of dim annexures. 5. That the petitioner also hereby undertakes to file neatly typed/ properly margined copies of the dim annexures as and when required/ directed by this Hon’ble Court. PRAYER In view of the submissions made hereinabove it is most respectfully prayed that this Hon’ble Court may graciously be pleased to: a) allow the present application and exempt the petitioner from filing the true typed / properly margined copies of dim annexure. b) Pass any other such order(s) which this Hon’ble Court deems fit and appropriate in the facts and circumstances of the case and in the interest of justice. Petitioners Through NEW DELHI DATED SM&M Advocates and Solicitors (Sahib Gurdeep Singh, Siddhant Sethi, DarylMenzes) Advocates for Petitioner Ch. No. 481, Block II, Delhi High Court 9999496532 IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI C.M. NO.____/2018 IN W.P.(C) NO. _________/2018 IN THE MATTER OF:PRATHAM SHARMA …PETITIONER VERSUS THE WB NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF JURIDICAL SCIENCES &Ors. …RESPONDENTS APPLICATION SEEKING STAY U/S 151 of CPC MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH: 1. That the present Writ Petition has been filed by the petitioner seeking accommodation from this Hon’ble Court in the form of a writ against the impugned circular dated 27.06.2018 issued by the Respondent No. 1 whereby the Respondent no. 1 has unilaterally suspended and arbitrarily declared that ‘all future activities pertaining to distant education and online courses should be put on status quo…all enrollments for these online and distance education courses which used to be run by the university through private partnerships have been suspended till further order…. 2. That the Petitioners are hopeful and have strong and valid grounds against the actions taken by the Respondent No. 1 against the Petitioner. 3. That to prevent any prejudice to be caused to the present petitioner, this Hon’ble Court’s intervention in the form of stay is necessary, so as to restrain the Respondent No. 1 from illegally proceeding against the Respondent by suspending the courses till final disposal of the present Petition. 4. That the present application made bonafide. PRAYER In view of the submissions made hereinabove it is most respectfully prayed that this Hon’ble Court may graciously be pleased to: 1. Pass an order staying the operation of the impugned circular issued by the Respondent No 1. 2. Pass any other such order(s) which this Hon’ble Court deems fit and appropriate in the facts and circumstances of the case and in the interest of justice. Petitioners Through NEW DELHI DATED SM&M Advocates and Solicitors (Sahib Gurdeep Singh, Siddhant Sethi, DarylMenzes) Advocates for Petitioner Ch. No. 481, Block II, Delhi High Court 9999496532 IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI NO. /2018 IN THE MATTER PRATHAM SHARMA VERSUS THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF JURIDICAL SCIENCES &Orsi AFFIDAVIT I. Pratham Sharmar -- -- aged about 2 years, do hereby solemnly state and affirm as under 1. That I am the Petitioner in the above matter and as such fully conversant with the facts and circumstances of the case and am competent to depose the present Affidavit. 2.That the contents of the accompanying application and applications are true and correct to my knowledge and belief and no part of it is false and nothing material has been concealed therefroms DEPONENT VERIFICATION Verified at New Delhi, on this day July 2018 that the contents of the paras 1 to 2 of the above affidavit are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief and that nothing material has been concealed therefrom DEPONENT