JNU can go ahead with admissions based on deprivation points: Delhi High Court

On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court permitted Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to proceed with admissions, including those based on deprivation points. The court was hearing an appeal by the university against a previous order that halted admissions based on deprivation points. The division bench, consisting of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia, modified the earlier order but clarified that such admissions would be contingent upon the final resolution of the appeal before the single judge.

The appeal was initiated by an aspiring student named Amit Mehra, who sought admission to postgraduate courses at JNU. The single judge had dismissed Mehra's plea on August 14, arguing that the scheme of deprivation points, which can award a maximum of 12 points to a candidate based on factors such as their district of origin, contravened the principles of a competitive examination.

Deprivation points, as explained by JNU, are designed to ensure a sufficient number of students from various districts. The university had already issued all offer letters for postgraduate courses (1,500) and undergraduate courses (451) before the stay was imposed. Following the single judge's order, JNU's admissions process was effectively halted.

Responding to the stay, JNU appealed to a division bench, arguing that the stay had halted the entire admission process. The student, Mehra, contended that the system of awarding deprivation points rendered the marks obtained in the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) almost meaningless. However, the division bench noted that the system of providing deprivation points had been in place at JNU since 1974, with periodic approvals from the Academic Council.

The bench permitted JNU to continue with the admission process, as per the provisions outlined in the e-Prospectus, including the system of deprivation points. However, this permission was subject to the final outcome of the appeal before the single judge. The bench also urged the single judge to expedite the proceedings.