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

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday allowed the University of Delhi (DU) to use the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2022 score to admit students to its newly introduced five-year LLB course this year.

A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula issued the order after noting that classes for other courses had already begun and that the matter before the Court required extensive hearing and consideration.

The Court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by law student Prince Singh seeking that Common University Entrance Test (CUET) scores be taken into account for admission to the course instead of CLAT scores.

Senior Advocate Pinky Anand appeared for DU and claimed that the CUET prospectus did not include the 5-year course, despite the fact that the Bar Council of India (BCI) had granted DU approval to offer a 5-year LLB degree.

At the same time, the Central Government and the University Grants Commission (UGC) informed the Court that CUET is required for admission to general degree courses under the National Education Policy and the UGC's 566th meeting.

Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, representing the Central government, claimed that the Central universities have the liberty to rely on exams such as CLAT, NEET, and others in order to grant admission to professional courses such as law, medicine, and management.

The Court observed that the main issue before the Court was whether admissions to Central universities could be granted solely on the basis of CUET or could also be based on other exams.

The Court appointed Senior Advocate Arun Bhardwaj as Amicus Curiae and directed the Court's registry to send him all case files.

The matter was then scheduled for further consideration on November 23.

Particularly, the Court had previously questioned the opposing stands on the issue taken by the Central Government and the UGC. While the Centre maintained that CUET is not required, the UGC contended otherwise.

During the previous hearing, the Court asked the UGC Chairman to state its view unequivocally.

The UGC Chairman then responded, stating that CUET is not required for all courses and that universities can consider marks in exams such as CLAT and NEET for admission to professional courses.