In a recent development, the Delhi High Court has granted interim permission to Delhi University to admit students into its newly introduced five-year integrated law courses based on the CLAT-UG 2022 scores. This decision is applicable only for the current academic year.
The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula, made this decision in light of the fact that classes have already commenced for this academic year across other universities.
The court’s intervention came in response to a PIL challenging Delhi University’s initial decision to base admissions for the said course solely on the CLAT-UG 2023 scores, as opposed to the CUET. The bench noted,
“The matter requires consideration. However, for the present academic year, as in all the universities classes have already started, as an interim relief, the Delhi University is permitted to make admissions based on CLAT 2022 result [only for current academic year].”
The court also appointed Senior Advocate Arun Bhardwaj as amicus curiae to assist in determining whether CUET should be mandatory for admissions across all Central Universities or if these institutions should retain autonomy in their admission decisions.
The University Grants Commission (UGC), in its recent affidavit, clarified that CUET is not obligatory for specialized courses like engineering, law, and medicine. Universities offering such courses can adopt varied admission criteria, including entrance tests conducted by specialized agencies like CLAT and NEET. However, the UGC emphasized that CUET would be mandatory for general degree programs in Central Universities.
Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, weighing in on the matter, remarked,
“Apples can’t be oranges and oranges can’t be apples.”
He emphasized that CUET isn’t mandatory for specialized courses like law because the aptitude required for such fields cannot be determined solely by knowledge in subjects like “Hindi or Geography.”
The c, a student of Delhi University’s Faculty of Law, argued that the university’s decision to base admissions solely on CLAT-UG 2023 results was “unreasonable and arbitrary.” The plea stated,
“That the condition imposed for admission to the Five-year Integrated Law Courses at the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi is wholly unreasonable and arbitrary. It 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, University of Delhi.”
Notably, the CLAT examination has recently faced criticism for its perceived bias towards English-proficient candidates. The Bar Council of India has even proposed conducting the exam in multiple regional languages, a matter currently under consideration by the High Court.