Bombay High Court temporarily restrains State from rejecting ILS University establishment proposal

The Bombay High Court recently directed the Maharashtra government to not reject the proposal submitted by Indian Law Society (ILS), Pune for establishment of ILS University, until July 31. [Indian Law Society v. State of Maharashtra and Anr].A Bench of Justices KR Shriram and Jitendra Jain passed the order on a writ petition by ILS against the inaction of the State government in deciding the proposal submitted in November 2022..As per the petition, ILS had promptly taken action and responded to concerns raised by the government about the proposal and legitimately expected that it would be considered within a reasonable time.The plea highlighted that the government's inaction would lead to fait accompli as the letter of intent (LoI) issued by it was to expire on June 24. It underlined that if the LoI lapsed, ILS would be compelled to spend ₹1 crore on the process once more..Since the LOI issued by the State government was due to expire on June 26, the petition was heard urgently on June 25.ILS informed the Court that despite having furnished all necessary details to the State government and the Department of Higher Education in September 2023, it was asked to provide additional information through a letter sent on Friday, June 21. The Society alleged that knowing fully well that Saturday and Sunday were holidays, the Department asked them to furnish the information by 11 AM on Monday, June 24..The Court recorded that the Department's conduct gave an impression that the letter had been issued only with an intention to harass ILS."It does give an impression that this letter has been issued only with an intention to harass Petitioner," it stated..The State government conceded that after details furnished by the Society in July 2023 were found to be deficient, ILS had furnished all details in September 2023 before the June 21 letter was issued. However, it sought time to file a reply. The Court granted time till July 28. For the rejoinder, it granted time till July 31 and listed the petition for admission on August 12. It ordered that until July 31, the government will not reject the proposal on ground of expiry of LoI, which will continue till the government decides on the proposal in accordance with law..Senior Advocate YS Jahagirdar and advocate SS Kanetkar appeared for ILS.Additional Government Pleader (AGP) PP More appeared for the State and Department of Higher Education..[Read Order]