The High Court of Delhi on Monday has stayed the horizontal reservation of 50% to Delhi Candidate in National Law University, Delhi. The bench has however maintained status quo on the previous academic year.
The bench comprising Justice Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad has directed the university to bring out a fresh admission notification before July 2 and to publish the same on its website.
A further one week period is given to enable the students to apply afresh who may be interested in applying for the admission process. The examination shall take place on the date notified by the university.
The Court’s decision came on a petition filed by Students of NLU Delhi challenging the introduction of 50% horizontal reservation at the University for candidates who have cleared their qualifying examinations from an institute in Delhi.
On the previous hearing Senior Counsel Neeraj Kishan Kaul appearing for the petitioners had alleged that the Delhi government “arm-twisted” the University administration to bring out reservation for local candidates, in violation of the NLU Delhi Act.
It was further argued that the decision was made in haste without waiting for the decision of the Committee headed by Supreme Court Judge, Justice NV Ramana on the issue of domicile reservation at NLU Delhi.
The petitioners had also submitted that the criteria of clearing the entrance examination from an institute in Delhi was not rational or valid, as it may exclude a resident of Delhi who moves to another city for his Xth or XIIth schooling.