PIL in Delhi HC against DU's decision to consider CLAT '23 scores for admission to law courses

A PIL on Monday came up before the Delhi High Court against Delhi University's (DU) decision to consider Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2023 scores for admission to its newly introduced five-year integrated law courses.

The PIL, filed by law student Prince Singh from the DU's Law Faculty, demands the implementation of Common University Entrance Test (CUET) scores for admission.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) had mandated CUET for central universities' undergraduate admissions, while DU has chosen to use CLAT scores for its law courses.

The PIL argues that this creates a separate category of students eligible for admission.

Additionally, CUET's inclusivity in terms of languages is highlighted, as opposed to CLAT's English-only format.

The plea states that the CLAT exam is being conducted in English medium since its inception. However, the CUET (UG) exam is being conducted in 13 languages -- English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.

"It is worth noting here that the CUET is more inclusive more diverse and in tune with the mandate of the National Educational Policy. It is not out of the place to mention here that the Respondent No. 1 uses two languages i.e., English and Hindi in its teachings and semester exams," the plea says.

The introduction of these law courses at DU had been in demand for long, with the Bar Council of India (BCI) granting approval for 60 seats each in the BA.LL.B. (Hons) and BBA.LL.B. (Hons.) programmes.

The university has said that sessions for both courses are scheduled at the Faculty of Law, Kanad Bhawan, in the North Campus.

The PIL came up before a division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula, with the matter being passed over for the time being.