Delhi High Court rejects PIL on university row

A vacation bench of the Delhi High Court Wednesday refused to hear a PIL seeking restoration of the three-year undergraduate programme in Delhi University and the scrapping of the controversial four-year course introduced last year.

A bench of Justice Pratibha Rani and Justice V.K. Rao told the petitioner's advocate R.K. Kapoor that the matter needed an effective hearing and it can only be done before a regular bench.

The high court is scheduled to resume work July 1 after a holiday break.

"The matter needs an effective hearing. It cannot be heard by a vacation bench," the court said.

The Public Interest Litigation sought the restoration of the earlier three-year undergraduate programme as directed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) in place of the four-year undergraduate programme or FYUP.

FYUP "violates the National Education Policy 1986 which advocates the 10+2+3 system, and, therefore, it is necessary that Delhi University must revert to the earlier system", the plea said.

The petitioner said the standoff between the UGC and Delhi University over the FYUP had affected hundreds of thousands of students seeking admission into colleges this year.