SHAHID BILAL HASSAN, J.---Allegedly , the Punjab College has been established as a state of the art and well equipped Campus at 1-C, New Muslim Town, Lahore and it is catering with needs of huge strata of population residing in the densely populated area of Lahore and its periphery; further a sizable bulk of students coming from the localities, villages and towns as well as from other far-flung places are also being benefitted; that the campus is adequately furnished with the required infrastructure and set of facilities including well versed and experienced faculty , teaching and administrative staff besides spacious campus building as required by the regulatory Higher Education Officer including respondents Nos.2 to 5. The Campus had been providing quality education up till M.A./M.Sc. and equivalent for the last about, three and half decades and had affiliation with the University of Sargodha. In this regard, the petitioner moved an application to the respondent No.4-Director Public Instructions
(DPI) Colleges Punjab, Lahore for issuan ce of registration certificate to teach M.A. (English) and M.Sc.(Physics, Chemistry , Zoology and Math) classes. In response to the same, the District Committee notified under section 5 of the Punjab Private Educational Institutions (Promotion and Regulation) Ordinance, 1984 visited the premises of the petitioner and recommended for the registration of the petitioner's institution, consequently , on 15.07.2019 a Registration Certificate was issued while allowing the request of the petitioner as a whole.
During the month of July, 2019, the HEC and Higher Education Department, Government of the Punjab announced that the Master Degree Program was going to end after two years; therefore, the petitioner forwarded the request for cancellation of registration through a request letter dated 06.07.2019 as the petitioner is interested to start B.S. Program with the University of Education Lahore. After knowing that the Master Degree Program is going to replace the B.S. Program for 4 years, the petitioner applied for the registration regarding the BS(IT), B.F.A. and B.Ed. classes for 4 years Program. Allegedly , the petitioner also deposited the requisite inspection fee of Rs.14,000/- and Rs.200,000/- as security amount in the account of the respondents. After scrutiny of the petitioner's application, the respondents through a letter dated 24.07.2019 directed the District Committee for the necessary inspection of the petitioner's premises. The concerned committee thoroughly visited the premises of the petitioner's college on 05.08.2019 and they found everything up to the mark; there was no lacuna or deficiency in the required things in college premises to teach the BS 4-years Program; consequently , the District Committee submitted its recommendations along with all inspection notes to the Authority as defined in section 2(8) of the Ordinance, 1984, in which the committ ee recommended for issuance of Registration Certificate for 4-years Program i.e. 2019-2023; that as per mandate of section 3(2) of the Ordinance, 1984, the Authority is bound to decide the application of petitioner within 60 days but without lawful authority , the respondent No.4 i.e. DPI Colleges Punjab refused to issue registra tion Certificate with an excuse that the respondent No.2-Higher Education Department, Government of Punjab has issued a letter dated 21.09.2019 in which a clear-cut direction has been issued to the Registration Authority/respondent No.4 that the cases of BS 4-years Program of Private Colleges be stopped forthwith and not to forward to the Higher Education Department; hence, the instant constitutional petition with the prayer that an appropriate writ in nature of mandamus may kindly be issued whereby the impugned letter of respondent No.2 dated 21.08.2019 and notification dated 13.07.2018 may be declared illegal, unlawful, void ab- initio having no legal effect qua the rights of the petitioner , the same may be set aside and respondent No.4-DPI Colleges, Punjab, Lahore may be directed to issue Registration Certificate as per already processed/recommended application of the petitioner for BS(IT), B.F.A. and B.Ed. classes for 4 years Program, without any further delay . It is further prayed that the respondents may be restrained from interfering into the smooth running, functioning, working and admission of the students of BS(IT), B.F.A. and B.Ed. classes for 4 years Program, as per the mandate of Section 3(3) of the Punjab Private Educational Institutions (Promot ion and Regulation) Ordinance, 1984.
2. Heard at length and report/comments submitted by the respondents have been gone through.
3. Considering the arguments and going through the record, it is observed that Higher Education Department fixed the cutof f date for submission of applications for starting BS 4 Years degree program in Public and Private Colleges as 30th January , 2019 but the same was extended till 30th June, 2019 by the Secretary Higher Education Department. The petitioner was corresponding with the respondents as is evident from the record that it moved an application to the respondent No.4: Director Public Instructions (DPI) Colleges Punjab, Lahore for issuance of registration certificate to teach M.A. English) and M.Sc. (Physics, Chemistry , Zoology and Math) classes and in response to the same, the District Committee notified under section 5 of the Punjab Private Educational Institutions (Promotion and Regulation) Ordinance, 1984 visited the premises of the petitio ner and recommended for the registration of the petitioner's institution and on 15.07.2019 a Registration Certifica te was issued while allowing the request of the petitioner . However , when during the month of July, 2019, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Higher Education Department (HED), Government of the Punjab announced that the Master Degree Program was going to end after two years, the petitioner forwarded the request for cancellation of registration through a request letter dated 06.07.2019 as the petitioner was interested to start B.S. Program. After knowing that the Master Degree Program is going to be replaced with B.S. Program for 4-years, the petitioner applied for the registration regarding the B.S.(IT), B.F.A. and B.Ed. classes for 4-years Program, which request was processed as the petitioner showing its bona fide also deposited the requisite inspection fee of Rs.14,000/- and Rs.200,000/- as security amount in the account of the respondents and after scrutiny of the petitioner's application, the respondents through a letter dated 24.07.2019 directed the District Committee for the necessa ry inspection of the petitioner's premises. The concerned committee thoroughly visited the premises of the petitioner's college on 05.08.2019 and they found everything up to the mark and the bistrict Committee submitted its recommendations along with all inspection notes to the Authority as defined in section 2(8) of the Ordinance, 1984, in which the committee recommended for issuance of Registration Certificate for 4-years Program i.e. 2019-2023. All these facts are admitted on behalf of the respondents as the same have not been denied or rebutted while submitting the report and para-wise comments; meaning thereby when the petitioner applied for the registration certificate for the B.S. (IT), B.F.A. and B.Ed. classes for 4-years Program and the request of the petitioner was entertained as all the process mentioned above was carried out, it presumed and assumed that its request would be granted; thus, it continued the function as educational institution without registration, because section 3(3) of the Ordinance; 1984 allows it. For ready reference the same is reproduced:- "3. All institutions to be registered. - (1) ......................................................................
(2) .......................................................................
(3) Until the application for registration is decided, the institution may continue to function without registration."
Section 6 of the Ordinance, 1984 docs not give any time frame for filing application for registration. For ready reference the same is reproduced:- '6. Application for registration. - (1) The incharge of an institution may make an application for registration of an institution to such officer and in such form as may be prescribed.
(2) The Officer receiving an application shall forthwith forward the same to the District Committee which, after making such inquiry about such matters as may be prescribed, shall submit its report with its recommendations to the Registering Authority within sixty days of the receipt of the application under subsection (1).
(3) The Registering Authority shall, after considering the report of the District Committee and after such further enquiry as may be necessary if satisfied that the conditions prescribed for granting registration are fulfilled, issue a Registration Certificate.
(4) No order for refusing to grant a certificate of registration shall be made without giving the applicant an opportunity of being heard and without recording reasons therefor .
(5) The Government shall, by notification , constitute one or more Registering Authorities in a district and if more than a Registering Authority is constituted in a district, the Government shall specify the jurisdiction of each Registering Authority .'
When no time frame was given in the basic statute governing the process of registration, the cut-of f date fixed by the respondent No.2 is Coram non judice as the same is not consistent with the statute i.e. Ordinance, 1984. In Messrs Mehraj Flour Mills and others v. Provincial Government and others (2001 SCMR 1806 ), the apex Court of the country held:-- '12. There is no cavil with the proposition that the rule shall always be consistent with the Act and no rule shall militate or render the provisions of the Act ineffective. The test of consistency is whether the provisions of the Act and that of rules can stand together . Main object of rules is to implement the provisions of the Act and in case of conflict between them the rule must give way to the provisions of the Act. In any case, the rule shall not be repugnant to the enactment under which they are made.'
When sections 6 and 3(3) of the Ordinance ibid are read together it divulges that the legislatures intended to streamline the private and public educational institutions and their intention was not to create any hurdle in their way or they did not intend to refuse the registration on technical basis that is why the Educational institutions have been allowed to continue to function without registration until their application for registration is decided and subsection (4) of section 6 of the Ordinan ce, 1984 bounds the Registering Authority , by using words 'No order for refusing to grant a certificate of registration shall be made without giving the applicant an opportunity of being heard and without recording reasons therefor', not to refuse registration of institution, without giving proper hearing to the applicant and without recording reasons. But in the present case, no such practice has been adhered to, rather all the process as envisaged under section 6(2) of the Ordinance, 1984 has been adopted and at the end the registration certificate has not been issued on the excuse that application was filed after cut-of f date. If the application was after cut-date, the same would have been returned without proceeding further but the same was processed by the concerned authority; thus, after observance of entire proceedings, the registration certificate ought to have been issued to the petitioner instead of declining the same on lame excuse.
4. Future of the students, who have taken admission and have been studying in the petitioner's college, cannot be allowed to be ruined mere on the basis of technicalities, which otherwise has been declared Coram non judice and in violation of provisions of basic enactment.
5. For the foregoing reasons and while placing reliance on the judgment supra, the constitutional petition in hand is allowed and the respondent No.4-Director Public Instructions (DPI), Colleges Punjab, Lahore is directed to issue Registration Certificate in favour of the petitioner as all the pre-requisites as required under section 6(2) of the Ordinance, 1984 have already been fulfilled.