HC seeks Centre, UGC's detailed replies on plea against DU admission in law course through CLAT

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has sought detailed replies from the Centre and the UGC over a plea against the Delhi University's decision to admit students to five-year integrated law courses solely based on the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT-UG), 2023, and not the Common University Entrance Test.

The court passed the order on August 25 after the Centre's counsel said CUET was not mandatory for central universities as they enjoy autonomy in matters of admission while the UGC's lawyer took a contrary stand.

"(Centre's lawyer) has categorically stated that, the Common University Entrance Test is not mandatory for central universities and that they enjoy autonomy in the matter of admission... University Grants Commission (lawyer) categorically states that it is mandatory for all central universities to adhere to the CUET for admission to UG/ PG programmes," noted a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula.

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"UGC as well as Union of India are granted one week's time to file a detailed counter-affidavit," the bench said. Petitioner Prince Singh, a law student at Campus Law Centre in Delhi University, argued in his petition that the university while issuing the impugned notification, imposed a "wholly unreasonable and arbitrary condition" that the admission to five-year integrated law courses shall be solely based upon merit in the CLAT-UG 2023 result, which is violative of the Right to Equality under Article 14 and Right to Education under Article 21.

The plea stated that the condition lacks any intelligible differentia and has no rational nexus with the object of admission to the five-year integrated law courses at the Faculty of Law. It sought that admission to the five-year integrated law courses be done through the CUET-UG, 2023. In his petition, Singh said that CUET-UG 2023 was for admission to all undergraduate programmes in central universities for the academic session 2023-24.

Earlier this month, the high court questioned Delhi University's decision to admit students to five-year integrated law courses solely based on CLAT-UG, 2023. The court had said that when other central universities were taking admissions for the course based on CUET UG 2023 introduced by the Ministry of Education, Delhi University was "not special". The matter would be heard next on September 12.