Delhi High Court Strikes Down Mandatory CET Requirement For Admission To Full-Time Diploma Courses In BTE-Affiliated Private Institutions
The Delhi High Court has struck down the compulsory requirement of undergoing Common Entrance Test (CET) for admissions to diploma courses in private institutions affiliated to the Board of Technical Education (BTE), while exempting institutions under the Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University (DSEU) from the requirement. [2026 LiveLaw (Del) 710]Justice Jasmeet Singh observed that...
The Delhi High Court has struck down the compulsory requirement of undergoing Common Entrance Test (CET) for admissions to diploma courses in private institutions affiliated to the Board of Technical Education (BTE), while exempting institutions under the Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University (DSEU) from the requirement. [2026 LiveLaw (Del) 710]
Justice Jasmeet Singh observed that there exists no intelligible differentia to subject the institutes affiliated with DSEU and BTE to different assessment mechanism with respect to similar diploma courses.
The Court struck down Clause 9 of the Information Bulletin issued by the Delhi Government. It added that both DSEU and BTE-affiliated institutions impart the same diploma courses and there was no rational basis for prescribing two separate admission mechanisms, i.e. CET for one category and Class X marks for the other.
“There are two different parallel mechanisms for admission being the CET on one hand and Class Xth marks without CET on the other. The two different parallel mechanisms for institutions offering same diploma course have no rational nexus with the object sought to be achieved, which is granting admissions to competent and eligible students,” the Court said.
The petition was filed by Aditya Institute of Technology challenging Clause 9 of the Information Bulletin for the academic session 2026-27, which restricted admissions to its full-time diploma courses solely through the CET for private institutions.
The institute sought permission to admit students on the basis of Class X marks, as was permitted for DSEU institutions.
Allowing the plea, the Court said that the Delhi Government explicitly exempted institutions under the DSEU from the CET requirement without ascribing any reasons to do the same. It held that such selective application was violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India.
“This classification is ex-facie arbitrary as the students who seek admission in private institutes are put to disadvantageous position in comparison to DSEU because of the mandatory criteria of CET is being applicable only to institutes under BTE. The respondent has created an arbitrary classification and no intelligible differentia has been made out,” Justice Singh held.
Accordingly, the Court declared Clause 9 of the Information Bulletin unconstitutional and set it aside.
However, considering that the CET process for the academic year 2026-27 had already been completed and students had been allotted to the petitioner institute, it declined to disturb the ongoing admissions.
The Court clarified that any vacant seats, including management quota seats, could now be filled by the petitioner on the basis of Class X results.
Title: ADITYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY THROUGH ITS FOUNDER-CUM-CHAIRMAN DEVENDRA GUPTA v. GNCTD
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Del) 710