Delhi High Court allows Delhi University to rely on CLAT 2022 score for admission to 5-year law course this year

The Delhi High Court on Monday allowed the University of Delhi (DU) to rely on Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2022 score for admitting students to its newly introduced five-year LLB course this year..A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula passed the order after noting that classes for other courses have already started and the matter before the Court requires a detailed hearing and consideration.The Court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by a law student Prince Singh demanding that instead of CLAT scores, Common University Entrance Test (CUET) marks should be considered for admission to the course..Senior Advocate Pinky Anand appeared for DU and submitted that the CUET prospectus did not contain the 5-year course when the Bar Council of India (BCI) granted DU approval to have 5-year LLB degree.Meanwhile, the Central government and the University Grants Commission (UGC) told the Court that according to the National Education Policy as well as the 566th meeting of the UGC, CUET is mandatory for admission to general degree courses.Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, appearing for the Central government, stated that the Central universities have the autonomy to rely on exams like CLAT, NEET and others for granting admission to professional courses like law, medicine and management..The Court noted that the major issue before the Court was whether the admissions to Central universities can be granted based only on CUET or they can rely on other exams as well.The Court appointed Senior Advocate Arun Bhardwaj as Amicus Curiae and ordered the Court's registry to forward all the files related to the case to him.It then proceeded to list the matter for further consideration on November 23..Notably the Court had earlier questioned the opposing stands of the Central government and the UGC on the issue. While it was the Centre's stand that CUET is not mandatory, the UGC had argued to the contrary.During the previous hearing, the Court had asked the UGC Chairman to make its stand clear.The UGC Chairman then filed a response and said that CUET is not mandatory for all courses and the Universities can consider marks in exams like CLAT, NEET for admission to professional courses. .Admissions to DU 5-year law course: Central government tells Delhi High Court CUET is not mandatory for universities; UGC opposes