Remove Misleading Information On Admission Eligibility Criteria From Official Website: High Court Directs Delhi University

The Delhi High Court has said that the University of Delhi needs to take “immediate corrective measures” for removal of misleading information on admission eligibility criteria from its official website.

Justice Vikas Mahajan said such contradictory and misleading criteria not only creates confusion in the minds of the candidates but also leads to unwarranted litigation.

“….the University of Delhi needs to take immediate corrective measures in identifying and removing all such material from its website which mentions the eligibility criteria for admission to any course, contrary to the one stipulated in the Bulletin of Information or the statutory Rules, Regulations and Ordinances of the University, for such contradictory and misleading criteria not only creates confusion in the minds of the candidates but also leads to unwarranted litigation,” the court said.

The court made the observation while rejecting a plea of a candidate who had applied for admission in M.Sc. Botany course under the Merit Admission Category as OBC (Non-Creamy Layer) for the academic year 2022-2023.

It was the candidate’s case that her candidature for admission under the Merit Admission Category was ignored as the first admission list did not mention her name despite having scored 88.96% (9.365 CGPA) in B.Sc. (H) Biological Science. She contended that other candidates selected for admission were having much lesser percentages.

As per the candidate, the eligibility criteria for admission in M.Sc. Botany in the Bulletin of Information 2022 provided B.Sc. (Hons.) Botany from University of Delhi as eligibility criteria for admission under the Merit Category.

It was her case that she had been misled by the online application filled by her wherein for the Merit Based Category, the eligibility criteria also included B.Sc. (Hons.) Biological Science.

Dismissing the plea, the court noted that the petitioner did not satisfy the admission criteria as she possessed the degree of B.Sc. (Hons.) Biological Science and not B.Sc. (Hons.) Botany and that she was only eligible under the Entrance Exam Category.

“Indeed, the petitioner did apply under the Entrance Exam Category also. However, as mentioned in the rejoinder, she did not take the examination under the Entrance Exam Category as she was busy in preparing for another entrance exam,” the court noted.

Perusing the Bulletin of Information, 2022 as well as of previous three years, Justice Mahajan said that the same eligibility criteria as mentioned in the 2022 bulletin has been consistently followed for admission to M.Sc. Botany course in the past, both for the Entrance Exam Category and the Merit Admission Category.

“In view of the legal and factual position as stated above, it is beyond any cavil that the eligibility criteria as mentioned in Bulletin of Information 2022 shall govern the admission to M.Sc. Botany course under the Merit Category. The petitioner cannot take advantage of, or refuge under, the inadvertent error that has crept in the Admission Form available on the website. Such a mistake on part of the respondent-university would not clothe the petitioner with any legal right,” the court observed.

The court said that the doctrine of estoppel cannot be applied against public authorities when their mistaken advice or representation is found to be in breach of a Statute, adding that it cannot direct the varsity to commit breach of its Bulletin of Information.

The court also said that the challenge to the eligibility criteria “premised on the ground of discrimination” was not seriously pressed by the petitioner’s counsel as the candidate “was all along aware” that the eligibility criteria of M.Sc. Botany, both under the Entrance Exam Category as well as the Merit Category, was given in the Bulletin of Information but she did not challenge the same before participating in the admission process.

“The petitioner did not even seek clarification from the respondent university as to which eligibility criteria, the one given in the Bulletin of Information or that mentioned in the PG Admission Form, will apply. Now after having unsuccessfully participated in the selection process, the petitioner cannot turn around and challenge the criteria of admission given in the Bulletin of Information,” it added.

Noting that the admission rules were not changed midway and the same criteria was notified in the Bulletin of Information-2022 also, just like the previous three years, the court dismissed the plea observing that it lacks merit.

Title: SONAM RAWAL v. UNIVERSITY OF DELHI AND ORS

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 106

Click Here To Read Order