PIL in Delhi HC challenges DU's decision to use CLAT scores for law admission

New Delhi: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in 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 a DU law student named Prince Singh, came up before a division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula on Monday.

The plea demanded considering Common University Entrance Test (CUET) scores for the admissions and questioned DU’s decision to use CLAT scores while University Grants Commission (UGC) clearly mandated CUET scores for central universities' undergraduate admissions.

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

“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 place to mention here that Respondent No. 1 uses two languages i.e., English and Hindi in its teachings and semester exams,” it added.

The introduction of these law courses at DU had been in demand for a 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.) programs. The university has said that sessions for both courses are scheduled at the Faculty of Law, Kanad Bhawan, on the North Campus.

Earlier, another PIL was filed by Sudhanshu Pathak who is also a law student at Delhi University, seeking to conduct CLAT-2024 not only in English but also in all other regional languages, stating that the English-medium examination "discriminates" and fails to provide a "level playing field" to the students whose educational backgrounds are rooted in regional languages.

With inputs from IANS