New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi University (DU) and its law faculty to admit an additional 301 students this academic session in its three-year LLB course.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar issued the direction on a plea by group of students who alleged that the varsity and its Faculty of Law did not adhere to the high court’s direction to carry out admissions as per past practice.

It agreed with the claim of the students that the DU and its Faculty of Law did not place the correct position before the court on June 28 when it directed the varsity to admit 2,310 students in the LLB course this year as has been done for the past nine years since 2008.

The DU and its law faculty had told the court on June 28 this year that only a total of 2,310 students were being admitted since 2008 to the LLB course offered at the varsity’s three law centres here.

The students, who gave the LLB entrance exam this year but could not get admitted, claimed in their application that 2,611 seats, including 301 supernumerary ones for reserved category students, were available every year in the law course.

However, this year the supernumerary seats were included in the 2,310 seats for which admissions were carried out, the application filed through advocate Vivek Chib contended.

The plea also said that the varsity and the faculty of law placed incorrect facts before the court that under the past practice only 2,310 students were admitted to the law course every year.

Agreeing with the submission made on behalf of the students, the bench directed the DU and the law faculty to admit 301 supernumerary candidates over and above the 2,310 seats.

It made it clear that “in case the supernumerary candidates have been admitted as part of the 2,310 candidates, the respondent nos.3 (DU) and 4 (law faculty) shall make the appropriate adjustments to ensure that 2,310 candidates are admitted and that the supernumerary candidates are adjusted over and above and beyond this number of 2,310.”

The bench also said in its September 26 order that cutoff date of August 31 shall not come in the way of the candidates before it from being admitted to the LLB course.

It said that if the candidates admitted pursuant to its September 26 order are unable to complete their curriculum, the DU and the law faculty “shall ensure that they are given an opportunity to make good the deficient classes and course, if any”.

“The respondents shall ensure that all eligible candidates in the order of merit shall be considered and granted admission pursuant to the order which has been passed today,” it added.

The June 28 interim order was passed on a PIL filed by lawyer Joginder Kumar Sukhija seeking directions to the BCI to permit the DU to induct 2,310 students in its law course as has been the practice since 2008.

The petitioner had also challenged the Bar Council of India’s decision to cap the seats in the LLB course at 300 per centre.