The Delhi High Court has asked Delhi University (DU) to respond to a complaint that claims that the process for allocating seats for the LLB course this year was arbitrary. The court recently issued a notice to the university about this matter.
A student who took the LLB entrance exam filed a complaint alleging that candidates belonging to reserved categories who scored higher than those on the general category merit list have not been moved to the general category. The student claimed that this goes against the principles of reservation and prevents more reserved category students from being admitted, as per a report by PTI.
The student also stated that they were "otherwise eligible" for admission under the reserved category for Other Backward Classes (OBC), but were unable to secure a seat due to the seat allocation process. Justice Vikas Mahajan issued a notice and gave the university time to respond. The court stated that any admissions made to the LLB course under the reserved categories after December 21 will be subject to the outcome of the petition.
“The impugned first admission list has excluded reserved category students (OBC, SC and ST), albeit obtaining marks above the general cut-off, from taking admissions under the open/unreserved category admission list. This seems to overturn the logic of reservation, as the seat matrix adopted by the respondent university fundamentally prevents reserved category students from competing in the open quota and consequently hinders additional reserved category students from making it to the list,” the plea reads.
"As a general principle, the open quota/unreserved admission category is open to all categories of students whereas, the first admission list of LLB 2022 published by the respondent university violates the said principle. The seat matrix adopted by DU is arbitrary, unlawful, manipulative as well as an egregious infringement of constitutional rights guaranteed to the reserved category," the plea says further, as per PTI. The case will be heard next on January 23.
