Amzad Ali
The Delhi High Court has sought a response from Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) after a PhD aspirant challenged the university’s decision to deny him admission despite his name figuring in the final selection list for the 2025–26 academic session.
Justice Jasmeet Singh, while hearing the writ petition filed by Salman Saleem, issued notice to Jamia Millia Islamia and other respondents, observing that the issues raised require judicial scrutiny. The matter has been listed for further hearing on February 16, 2026. The Court has granted the university ten days to file its reply.
Saleem had applied for admission to the PhD (Academic) programme at the Anwar Jamal Kidwai–Mass Communication Research Centre (AJK-MCRC) under the UGC-NET exempted category. According to the petition, his name appeared in the final selection list published on December 19, 2025, after completion of document verification and other stages of the admission process. However, he was subsequently denied admission on the grounds that he did not fulfil eligibility requirements under the UGC-NET exemption category.
Challenging the decision, Saleem contended that the denial was the result of administrative delay and lapses on the part of the university and not attributable to any fault on his part. He further argued that Jamia’s PhD Ordinance does not prescribe any specific cut-off date for the validity of the UGC-NET certificate and that the university acted contrary to its own rules.
Counsel for the petitioner, Mohammad Waseem, submitted that Jamia Millia Islamia has failed to adhere to its own PhD Ordinance. He pointed out that the Ordinance, inter alia, provides for two separate PhD examinations in an academic session and mandates that the reservation policy be applied in toto across all courses. He added that the Court’s intervention was necessary to curb arbitrariness in the admission process.
Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Kaif Hasan clarified that the challenge before the Court was limited and specific. “We are seeking admission of the petitioner to the PhD programme under the exempted category, considering his UGC-NET scorecard as valid in terms of the applicable guidelines. We will await the university’s response and thereafter advance final arguments,” Hasan said.
The writ petition, filed under Article 226 of the Constitution on January 14, also alleges violation of reservation norms, stating that seats were neither disclosed nor allocated category-wise as mandated under Jamia’s Ordinance 6 (VI), thereby undermining transparency and fairness in the admission process.
