As many as 44 Universities without the permissible academic standards have been put in limelight by the the Union Government's HRD ministry, by notifying regarding withdrawal of their deemed status. Due to this, the two lakh students of these universities spread in 13 states, were put in a tight-spot. The Human Resource Development Ministry had done so on the basis of the reports prepared by the review committee and the task force and it had listed 44 institutions and suggested that they be given three years to rectify their deficiencies. These universities were reportedly being run as family fiefdoms rather than academic institutions.
Immediately after the issue was raised, The Supreme Court stopped the Union government from divesting 44 universities of their special 'deemed university' status and ordered that status quo be maintained. The court benched by Justices Dalveer Bhandari and A.K. Patnaik passed the order despite government's assurance that no follow-up action would be taken against these institutions without the court's consent. Additionaly, the HRD minister Kapil Sibal has already mentioned that students would not suffer.
