The Delhi High Court on Friday held that candidates seeking admission to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) under the management quota seats can apply using both offline and online methods.
A bench comprised of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Neena Bansal Krishna clarified that the seats already filled under the management quota for the academic session 2022-23 would remain unaffected. The court directed the authorities to issue necessary instructions for compliance within two weeks.
The decision was made in response to an appeal by the Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, an affiliated college of GGSIPU. The appeal challenged a single judge’s order that declined to interfere with the Delhi government’s circulars governing admissions to management quota seats.
The circulars introduced various measures to ensure fairness and transparency in the admission process. These measures included the creation of an online portal to display available seats under the management quota, submission of online applications by candidates, and online publication of the merit list.
The appellant argued that the procedure to fill management quota vacancies through offline mode had been followed for the past 25 years, as stipulated by The Delhi Professional Colleges or Institutions (Prohibition of Capitation Fee, Regulation of Admission, Fixation of Non-Exploitative Fee and Other Measures to Ensure Equity and Excellence) Act, 2007, and its corresponding rules.
The petitioner expressed no objection to filling management quota vacancies through the online mode but contended that, according to the law, such a direction must be issued by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi rather than the Delhi government.
The court agreed with the appellant’s argument that the circular was not issued by the competent authority, the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.
“We find that to ensure a fair mechanism to fulfill the Management Quota seats available under different branches of private self-funded institutions, affiliated to respondent No.3- University, a fair procedure has to be adopted,” the court stated.
The court disposed of the appeal while upholding the directions in the circular dated 22.09.2022 with a partial modification. It allowed candidates to apply for Management Quota seats through “offline mode” in addition to the online mode. The court directed the Delhi government and GGSIPU to issue necessary orders for compliance within two weeks.
The court emphasized that these directions would not apply to the session 2022-23, and the seats already filled under the Management Quota by colleges for different branches until 2022-23 would remain undisturbed.
The court instructed GGSIP University to establish an online portal displaying branch-wise and college-wise seats available under the management quota. Prospective students could then apply online or offline.
The court also mandated that colleges should display the list of admission seekers on both the online portal and the college notice board. Additionally, a common merit list should be prepared for candidates who applied through both online and offline processes. The college-wise merit list would be published online, the court directed.
While rejecting petitions by several private institutions against the circulars, the single judge had noted that although “backdoor entry” into professional courses is not uncommon, institutions have an obligation to maintain merit and transparency. The selection of students should not be influenced by factors like personal connections, wealth, or social status.
