Delhi HC tells DU colleges to enforce 5% sports, ECA quota in admissions

The Delhi High Court, while disposing of a writ petition filed by a CBSE national-level gold medalist in lawn tennis, has directed that all colleges affiliated with the University of Delhi (DU) must adhere to the mandatory 5% reservation for Extra-Curricular Activities (ECA) and sports quota in future admissions.

The case was filed by Aditi Rawat, a minor, represented through her mother, Anita Rawat, seeking a seat under the Sports Quota at Hindu College for the academic year 2025-26.

Rawat's counsel, Advocate Jeetender Gupta, along with Advocates Bharat Rawat and Ashish Mishra, argued that while DU's admission policy mandates 5% of total seats in each college to be reserved for ECA/Sports, Hindu College had allotted only 10 seats each for ECA and Sports against a sanctioned strength of 956 seats--well below the required 47.

Hindu College contended that the quota mentioned in DU's Information Bulletin was not mandatory.

However, the University of Delhi, in an affidavit submitted to the Court, confirmed that colleges are bound to reserve 5% of their sanctioned intake for ECA and Sports admissions.

Justice Vikas Mahajan observed that the university's affidavit left no ambiguity; the quota is compulsory. However, since the centralised process for Sports Supernumerary Quota admissions had already concluded for the academic session, the Court ruled that no immediate relief could be granted to the petitioner, who had already secured admission in Lady Shri Ram College under the Sports quota.

During the proceedings, Advocate Gupta also highlighted that DU had issued a public notice for spot admissions. The Court clarified, however, that the notice applied only to regular sanctioned seats, not to supernumerary Sports/ECA quotas.

Finally, the petitioner's counsel urged the Court to ensure compliance in the future, a request that DU's counsel supported. Accepting this, Justice Mahajan expressed hope that DU colleges would henceforth strictly follow the Information Bulletin guidelines regarding the mandatory 5% ECA/Sports quota. The petition was accordingly disposed of with these directions, said the court order.