New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) informed the Delhi High Court that the admissions to the newly started law course by the Delhi University (DU) can be carried out through the CLAT-UG (Common Law Admission Test) entrance test.

It submitted the affidavit to the court in response to a petition against Delhi University’s decision to admit students to its five-year LLB programme solely on the basis of CLAT-UG 2023 and not CUET (Common University Entrance Test).

Backing the University's decision, the UGC told the court that the LLB is a professional course and that special criteria are required to select students for the programme.

“CLAT is a national entrance exam. The decision to conduct the admission through CLAT was taken with the nod of DU Academic and Executive councils. Being an independent institution, DU is entitled to fix criteria for the admission on its own,” the UGC made it clear while requesting the court to reject the petition.

The UGC has taken a U-turn from its earlier stance. When the petitions were considered on August 25, the UGC, through its lawyers, informed the court that CUET scores are mandatory for UG (Under Graduate) and PG (Post Graduate) admissions in Central universities like DU.

Following this, the Delhi High Court directed the Central Government and the UGC to file affidavits. The admissions to all other courses run by the DU are through CEUT from last year onwards.