The Old Order Changeth, Yielding Place to the New (Murli Manohar Joshi’s Tenure)

This chapter elaborates the shifting case law over the 24 year period from 1982 to 2006 in regard to the right of private individuals and organisations to establish educational institutions, the regulation of admissions to private-unaided institutions (self-financing institutions), and the regulatory power of AICTE. It offers a theoretical explanation of these shifts by elaborating two major reinforcing factors. The first is the adoption of an interpretational philosophy that legitimates judges going beyond the express wording and original intent of Constitution makers, discerning the purpose underlying a constitutional provision, and applying the purpose so discovered to rectify failures of public policy and governance types. The second factor is the inbuilt trait to expand as a result of a generous policy of admitting appeals. Given that judges differ considerably in the judicial philosophy they hold, and their perception of policy problem and solutions case law has bene fluid, creating uncertainty for institutions which are regulated as well as regulators like the AICTE.