Calcutta, July 18 :    Calcutta, July 18:  Admissions to the bachelor of architectural engineering course, one of the oldest and most prestigious courses taught for the past 53 years at Shibpur Bengal Engineering College (Deemed University), have been closed, following a directive from the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). The century-and-a-half-old college, that has produced some of our best architects, has been asked by AICTE to halt admission of students to both its under-graduate and post-graduate courses in architectural engineering from the current academic session. The college has, allegedly, been penalised for 'failing to maintain the norms' laid down by the government for running the course. 'The Council of Architecture, the national regulatory body, had conducted inspections of the college and directed us to ask the authorities to stop all admissions this year as they have found that the college had failed to maintain the minimum requirement for running the course,' said B.K. Tosh, AICTE regional officer for the eastern region. The college authorities and the state government are in talks with AICTE and the Council of Architecture to withdraw the order. 'The AICTE officials in Delhi are examining the requests. Considering the interests of the students, permission may be granted to the college to run the course if it promises to rectify the faults,' said Tosh, while admitting that the architectural engineering department in Shibpur had been considered 'one of the best in the country' for decades. Sources in B.E. College said the Council of Architecture had discontinued the course as the institution had not followed certain admission rules and it did not have the requisite laboratory and computer facilities. Vice-chancellor Amal Jyoti Sengupta, however, said: 'The allegation that we do not have adequate laboratory facilities is absolutely baseless. The architectural engineering department is one of the best in the country. Our students have made a mark not only in India, but throughout the world.' Sengupta also claimed that the institute had strictly followed the admission procedure laid down by the Council of Architecture. The shut order has left in the lurch students who have cleared the Joint Entrance Examination. With the 20 berths at Shibpur out of bounds, the 30 in Jadavpur University (JU) - up from 20 last year, thanks to an AICTE order - will now witness a mad scramble for the precious seats.