Disposing off a batch of petitions, a division bench, comprising Justices S J Mukhopadhaya and V Dhanapalan, said: 'we have no hesitation to hold that the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) Society and ICFAI University have no legal right to run institutions of this kind in the state of Tamil Nadu and they are hereby restrained from running such instutitions'.

As per regulations, no off-campus centres or study centres could be opened without prior approval of UGC and state governments, the bench said in the case on hand, such centres had been set up with prior approval of UGC and Tamil Nadu government.

'They cannot be allowed to run any longer. If such centres are allowed to continue, the future of gullible students will be jeopardised by way of money and time,' the court observed.

'It felt that irregularities and improprieties in using the educational system to the advantage of certain private institutions would give a wrong signal and put the common man in peril if such kind of mushrooming of private institutions, without recognition, affiliation and proper grant of permission was allowed '.

'Therefore we hope that statutory bodies such as the All India Council for Technical Education, UGC or another equivalent bodies will take constructive steps to bring in appropriate rules and regulations with stringent penal provisions to scotch all irregular and illegal institutions,' they said.