In a body blow to mushrooming private universities in Chhattisgarh, the Supreme Court on Friday quashed a provision of the state law allowing registration of such universities.

A Bench, comprising Chief Justice R C Lahoti, Justice G P Mathur and Justice P K Balasubramnyan, termed the Chattisgarh Private Sector Universities Act, 2002, as 'unconstitutional' and cancelled the registration of over 100 universities, including those of Rai and ICFAI universities.

The court, however, directed the affiliation of the institutions run by these universities to varsities that existed prior to the enactment of the legislation. The court gave this direction to ensure that the careers of students enrolled in these institutions are not jeopardized.

University Grants Commission former chairman and noted educationist Prof Yashpal had filed a public interest litigation questioning the legality of Section 5 of the legislation. The Section allows the registration of private universities in the state by doing away with the role of the UGC.

The UGC is the sole authority to examine the infrastructure available with and the courses of studies prescribed by an institution and confer deemed university status, the PIL said.