Appearing for Sharma, advocate Sanjay Hegde accused the government of misusing the provisions of the University Grants Commission Act, which provides for grant of the deemed university status to educational institutions of excellence.

Hegde said this provision was enacted on a recommendation by a committee, headed by Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, in 1948.

The advocate contended that the government however has significantly diluted the stipulations for giving this status to educational institutions, which have resulted in their mushrooming growth without any quality control.

He said an educational institution, located in one part of the country, comes up with hundreds of off-campus institutions, virtually selling degrees to students for a price.

He also wanted to know from the government if there was any provision to revoke the deemed university status given to a private educational institution.