The Delhi High Court has directed Delhi University (DU) to admit a candidate belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBC), who was rejected for failing to upload his latest caste certificate in time, to a 3-year LLM course for the academic year 2021-22.
Justice Rekha Palli termed the decision of Delhi University, which barely gave four hours to the students to upload all their documents, as “arbitrary and wholly unsustainable”. She said the purpose of reservation for Other Backward Castes (OBC) candidates was to encourage students to fulfill their dreams of pursuing higher education.
“In their eagerness to complete the admission process by December 31, 2021, the respondent (DU) has just brushed this vital factor that the shortlisted students were granted only four hours to upload their documents and that too without having been earlier put to notice that no undertakings would be accepted,” the High Court said in its order on Thursday.
The High Court’s direction came on a petition by the law student, belonging to the Non-Creamy Layer (NCL) of the OBC, who was denied admission to the 3-year LLM programme for not submitting his latest caste certificate.
The student had uploaded a 2018 OBC-NCL certificate issued by the Uttar Pradesh government while submitting his application for the LLM course, for which his name had appeared in the fourth list of eligible candidates, issued on December 31, 2021.
On the same day, all the shortlisted candidates were asked to upload all the requisite documents between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.
While he was waiting to receive the payment link, the student received an email from the DU, informing him that his admission was not approved as his OBC-NCL certificate did not belong to the financial year 2021-2022.
The DU also did not permit the student to give an undertaking that he will submit the relevant OBC certificate within a specific time.
The High Court noted that some reasonable time ought to have been given to the student to produce his documents, especially when he had already applied for the issuance of a renewed OBC-NCL certificate.
The High Court said that the student “cannot be left in the lurch or made to face fait accompli when his merit position is undisputed” while directing DU to grant admission to him in the 3-year LLM programme for the academic year 2021-22.
