New Delhi, July 21 (IANS) The Supreme Court Wednesday slammed the National Council of Teachers Education (NCTE) for its failure to regulate private colleges imparting teacher training courses and said it had no right to exist.

The virtual censure of the NCTE came when its member secretary Hasib Ahmed told the court that the regulator has imposed a complete ban on giving any further recognition to private institutions.

'There is a difference between regulation and prohibition,' the court said.

'Ban means that your regulatory authority has failed. It is a poor commentary on you. You should not exist,' said Justice G.S.Singhvi and Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly.

The court said that agencies regulating education, be it in any field, were in such a situation because they were packed with retired bureaucrats who have no idea of promoting education.

The court asked Ahmed how many retired bureaucrats were there in NCTE.

The court said that it was 'only in India and nowhere in the world' that retired bureaucrats adorn agencies created for regulating education.