The Delhi High Court on Friday directed Delhi University and the University Grants Commission (UGC) to allow students to apply for admission to undergraduate (UG) courses at the varsity for the current academic session based on the eligibility criteria of 2018-19.
A bench of Justices Anu Malhotra and Talwant Singh extended the deadline from 14 to 22 June for students to apply for the undergraduate courses in DU.
With these two directions, the high court disposed of three petitions, two PILs and a plea by a student, challenging the recent amendment made to the eligibility criteria for 2019-20 for admissions to several UG courses, including BCom (Hons) and BA (Hons) Economics, with the latter requiring that Maths be part of the best of four subjects.
The court, in its 17-page order, said these directions will not preclude DU from making changes to the eligibility criteria in the forthcoming year to its UG courses as required.
But the bench made it clear that the changes in eligibility criteria have to be made in accordance with law, "which would require a minimum of six months of public notice to the public at large".
The registration for admission to DU commenced on 30 May and according to the plan, it was to end on 14 June.
The petitions had contended that students were caught unaware as the eligibility criteria for some courses had been changed a day before the opening of registration on 30 May.
Earlier in the day, the high court observed that DU's recent decision to change the admission norms for various undergraduate courses could have been announced much earlier.
“There is no dispute that you have to be in tune with the times. Nothing prevents you from improving education standards. No one is saying your decision (amendment) is not right, but your timing may not be right.”Delhi High Court
During the more than an hour long arguments, the court said the eligibility criteria were meant for students who gave the 2018-19 Class 12 board exams and DU's amended norms came a day before start of registration.
"Can you (DU) change it a day before? You could have given three months prior notice to students," the bench said.
DU Likely to Release First Cut-Off by June End Now
As the High Court directed the university to extend its registration date to 22 June, the university is now likely to release its first cut-off list by the end of this month, officials said.
Earlier, DU was slated to release the first cut-off list around 20 June.
“We will have to study the order and make changes to the portal and other systems in place. The first cut-off was to be released on 20 June, but now it will most likely come out by 29 June or 30. This would mean that the admission process will be delayed by 10 days.”Official
Over 3.40 lakh students had registered on the varsity’s portal till 11:44 pm on Friday and 2,38,962 had made payments.
Rasal Singh, a member of the standing committee on admissions, said there should be an admission branch that must take opinions from all the stakeholders while finalising admission norms, and should work through the year. He said things are most likely to be clear by Saturday.
(This story has been edited for language and length.)
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