NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday allowed Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to continue admitting students using “deprivation points”, the additional marks awarded to candidates based on the geographical location of their previous schooling.
A division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia, while hearing a plea filed by JNU against a single judge’s order restraining the varsity from admitting students under the policy, said admissions would be subject to the outcome of the petition pending before the single judge.
The division bench observed that the policy of awarding deprivation points has been in vogue at JNU since 1974 and that the single judge’s order had brought the entire admission process to a halt.
“The university shall carry on with the admission process as per the provisions in the e-prospectus, including the provisions which are under challenge before the single judge. However, any admission hence made will be subject to the outcome of the writ petition,” the bench said.
Plea challenged an interim order passed on August 14
It also requested the single judge to expedite the proceedings and conclude the matter as soon as possible. In its petition before the division bench, Jawaharlal Nehru University claimed that awarding deprivation points was based on its policy of ensuring the inclusion of an adequate number of students from different regions of the country.
The petition challenged an interim order passed on August 14. In that order, Justice Jasmeet Singh had restrained JNU from admitting students using “deprivation points”, saying that through the policy, JNU had altered the marks obtained by students in the Common University Entrance Test (CUET). The judge noted that JNU’s 2026–27 prospectus provides for up to 12 deprivation points. Each point is equivalent to 3 marks, meaning a candidate could effectively receive up to 36 additional marks.
“If this is permitted, the sanctity of an entrance exam will no longer remain and a university through ordinances will be able to alter the score obtained by a candidate in a competitive exam. That is antithesis to the whole concept of a competitive exam,” Justice Singh had said while hearing a petition filed by a student who had applied for postgraduate admissions to JNU.