Delhi High Court has directed Delhi University (DU) to fill up within two weeks vacant seats across all categories in its LLB course, observing that it is unfair if seats go abegging despite meritorious candidates seeking admission.

Allowing petitions by three aspirants who failed to secure admission despite seats lying vacant, Justice Rekha Palli said DU must fill up the seats after considering all eligible candidates and ensure additional classes for the newly admitted students if required. DU had contended that the students had sought admission after the cut-off date had passed.

The judge observed that it was the dream of many students to study in a reputable university like DU and the three petitioners, who have cleared the entrance exam, should not be denied the opportunity to pursue the degree.

“There is no gainsaying that the aim of counselling in any institution is to fill up the maximum available seats by granting an opportunity to deserving and eligible candidates to gain education and knowledge,” the high court said.

“Unarguably, Delhi University is one of the premier institutes in imparting education across the country, and it is a dream for many students to get their education from a university of this repute.

“It would be unfair to the candidates if seats in such a prestigious institute are allowed to go to waste, despite there being candidates with merit to fill the same.”

The court said the petitioners, who are young students and have shown grit and determination in clearing the entrance examination, should not be denied the opportunity to pursue the three-year LLB course, especially keeping in view the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on students, who have faced constant disruptions.

The court pointed out that DU’s unwillingness to consider filling the vacant seats on the ground of strict adherence to December 31 being the last cut-off date was not acceptable when the varsity itself neither followed the last date mentioned in the information bulletin nor did it stick to the guidelines on cancellation of admission in certain cases.

“The writ petitions deserve to be allowed, and are accordingly allowed by directing the respondent to fill up within two weeks all the available vacant seats in the LLB course across all the categories, by considering all eligible candidates, including the petitioners, as per their merit,” the court said.

“Needless to state, if there is any requirement for these students to attend additional classes, the respondent will ensure that the same are conducted well within time,” it added.

The petitioners had appeared for the entrance examination for the 2021-22 academic session. They stated that as per the seat matrix released by DU’s faculty of law, there were 3,320 seats. But after going through the merit lists, the petitioners realised that a number of seats across different categories had remained vacant.

DU had argued that the petitioners did not have any vested right to seek admission after the process had ended and that a cut-off date is fixed to ensure that the admission process is completed within a suitable time frame and does not go on endlessly.