MNLU Nagpur PhD Admissions: Bombay High Court Closes Plea After Nomadic Tribe Category Candidate Granted Admission
Narsi Benwal
8 April 2026 8:00 AM IST
The Bombay High Court was recently informed that the Maharashtra National Law University (MNLU), Nagpur as per its corrective measures has granted admission to a Nomadic Tribe (NT) - C category candidate in its PhD batch of 2025.
Taking note of the same, a division bench of Justice Anil Pansare and Justice Nivedita Mehta disposed of a petition filed by one Dipak Kharat, a NT-C category candidate, who accused the MNLU, Nagpur for wrongly denying him a seat against the reserved category for its doctoral programme.
The bench in its recent order passed on April 6, noted that the MNLU has considered Kharat's candidature for admission to the Ph.D. batch of 2025.
"The MNLU counsel submits that the petitioner is at liberty to attend classes from tomorrow. He further submits that remedial/extra classes for the petitioner will be taken to cover the syllabus/course undertaken till today. Counsel for petitioner, on instructions, submits that the petitioner is satisfied with the subsequent development. Thus, purpose of filing petition is served. The writ petition is accordingly disposed of," the bench recorded in the order.
According to the petition, Kharar was desirous of pursuing Ph.D. programme at the MNLU, Nagpur and accordingly, he had applied and appeared in the examination. The MNLU then declared the results of the entrance test on October 3, 2025, which indicated that Kharat had qualified.
Further, on January 5, 2026, Kharat was called for the interview rounds and he appeared for the same. Subsequently, on February 3, 2026, the MNLU, Nagpur published a list of candidates, who were held to be eligible for 'provisional admissions.' The list did not include Kharat's name but enlisted some 26 other candidates.
Therefore, Kharat alleged that the one seat reserved for the NT-C category was given in admission for the Open category and accordingly, an Open category candidate was given admission on the said seat. He therefore, raised his grievance through an email and subsequently, the Doctoral Council in its meeting on February 11, 2026 considered his request.
"The Convenor of the Doctoral Council, vide email dated February 14, 2026, informed the petitioner that his concern has been taken cognisance of and that a Sub-Committee has been constituted to thoroughly examine the issue. The Convenor further informed that the sub-committee will review the details and provide recommendation at the earliest and the petitioner will be updated after submission of the recommendation in due course," Kharat contended.
However, since there was no recommendation or communication from the said Sub-Committee, Kharat petitioned the High Court as the course had already commenced.
Appearance:
Advocates SD Borkute and DD Kamble appeared for the Petitioner.
Advocates Yash Venkatraman and SA Sonak represented the MNLU, Nagpur & Others.
Case Title: Dipak Namdev Kharat vs Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur (Writ Petition 1953 of 2026)