On June 9, 2025, the Supreme Court of India refused to entertain a Special Leave Petition (SLP) challenging non-provision of OBC reservation in undergraduate admissions of Rajiv Gandhi National Law University (RGNUL), Patiala through Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2025.
A division bench of Justice P.K. Mishra and Justice Manmohan was hearing a plea pertaining to exclusion of OBC reservation from CLAT UG admission policy of RGNUL. The petitioner had approached the apex court seeking urgent relief due to the upcoming closure of the counselling process.
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The Supreme Court bench said, "Given that the matter is pending in the High Court and posted on July 7, 2025, we are not inclined to entertain this SLP," indicating that the issue is already under judicial scrutiny before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Advocate Charu Mathur, appearing for the petitioner, highlighted that while RGNUL had provided seats for foreign nationals, it failed to reserve any seats for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. He expressed concern that the petitioner may miss out on admission as CLAT 2025 counselling is scheduled to end by June 20.
He submitted before the Court:
"They are giving reservation to foreign nationals but not to OBCs."
However, Justice P.K. Mishra raised an important question on the timing of the petition, noting that the examination process has already been concluded.
"When the exam is over, you are saying that reservation should happen after the exam, after the results are published?" he asked.
In response, advocate Mathur argued that a similar issue was considered by NLU Jodhpur even after the exams were over. He stressed the constitutional importance of OBC reservation and said: "It is a constitutional order, how can they not give OBC reservation, my lord? They are also getting central funding. Counselling will be over."
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Despite his submission, the Supreme Court decided not to interfere in the case, and focused on the pending proceedings before the high court.
Case Details : KOMALPREET KAUR DHILLON vs. UNION OF INDIA| SLP(C) No. 016457 - / 2025
