HC shows displeasure over DU decision for admission to Law courses through CLAT-UG 2023, grants time to file affidavit

New Delhi [India], August 17 : The Delhi High Court on Thursday showed its displeasure over Delhi University's decision or notification for admission to Law courses solely on the basis of the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT UG 2023) result.
The bench of Justice Satish Chander Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula asked the Counsel representing Delhi University (DU ), “When all other universities are relying on Common University Entrance Test (CUET) marks, why is DU considering Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) for admission to the five-year integrated law courses?”
The Delhi University (DU), through its counsel Mohinder Rupal, ensured the Delhi High Court that it will not release any advertisement inviting applications for admission to the five-year Law course till the case is decided by the high court.
The high court noted the submissions, granted time to DU to file its response, and listed the case for further consideration next week. Meanwhile, the bench made it clear that if no affidavit is filed by the next week, the case will be heard on the issue of granting interim relief.
The direction came on Thursday during the hearing on a petition challenging a notification issued by Delhi University (DU) for admission to Law courses solely on the basis of the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT UG 2023) result.
The PIL sought to quash the notification dated August 4 by the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, for admission to Five-year Integrated Law Courses for the Academic Year 2023-24 solely on the basis of the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT UG 2023) result.
The plea seeks direction to implement the scheme of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) UG 2023 introduced by the Ministry of Education (MoE) for admission into all UG programmes in central Universities for the academic session 2023-24 under the Ministry of Education.
The plea was moved by Prince Singh, a student of law at the University of Delhi, who stated that the petitioner is, like many others, especially those who are aspiring to be law students, aggrieved by the hasty and capricious decision of the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, that admission to Five-Year Integrated Law Courses shall be solely based upon merit in the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) UG 2023 result.
It further stated that on August 4, the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, released a notification with a long-awaited welcoming decision to offer admissions in five-year Integrated Law courses, which was the dream of many students across the country.
However, the faculty then imposed an unreasonable and arbitrary condition that admission to the same courses shall be solely based on merit in the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) UG 2023 result, which is violative of the fundamental Right to equality under Article 14 and the right to education recognised under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner stated.
The CLAT exam has been conducted in English since its inception.
However, as per the plea, the CUET (UG) exam is being conducted in 13 languages — English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.
The CUET is more inclusive, more diverse, and in tune with the mandate of the National Educational Policy, the plea stated, adding that Delhi University uses two languages — English and Hindi, in its teachings and semester exams.