In an intra court appeal filed before the Delhi High Court by the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to challenge an order dated 14-08-2026 by this Court in a writ petition by an aspiring student (respondent 1) whereby the Single Judge directed that admissions based on deprivation points were not to be finalized till the next date of hearing, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia modified the impugned order.
The student challenged Section V of the e-Prospectus for the Academic Session 2026-27 by JNU to the extent that it was related to awarding of deprivation points. JNU submitted that the first round of counselling for admissions ended on 25-06-2026 and even the classes of students based on earlier rounds had started with effect from 30-07-2026 as far as post graduate courses were concerned. JNU argued that the system of awarding deprivation points had been in practice since 24-04-1974, as amended from time to time and approved by the Academic Council of JNU.
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Respondent 1 submitted that he had been making representations to JNU authorities since the publication of the e-Prospectus. It was also argued that due to the application of deprivation points, a candidate’s marks in the Central University Entrance Test (CUET) were rendered nugatory.
Considering the submissions of both parties, that the entire admission process had been halted, and that the writ petition was filed much after the admission process had begun, the Court modified the impugned order and directed JNU to carry on the admission process as per the e-Prospectus, including the provisions that were under challenge in the writ petition. However, it was also directed that any admission hence made, would be subject to the outcome of the writ petition.
Further, the Court requested the Single Judge to hear and conclude the proceedings of the writ petition as early as possible. Thus, the appeal was disposed of.
