New Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS): The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging an Indian Army advertisement that mandates a CLAT-PG 2023 score as an eligibility criterion for law graduates seeking induction into the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Branch.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna stated that the court cannot interfere with educational qualifications prescribed by the Army and deemed the issue unsuitable for a PIL.

It court said that the matter of CLAT-PG score as an essential eligibility criterion falls within the domain of the army, and aggrieved individuals have the liberty to approach the court with specific grievances rather than through a PIL.

The petitioner, Shubham Chopra, argued that the requirement of CLAT-PG 2023 infringed upon the rights of candidates who did not register for the LLM entrance but hold a valid law graduate degree.

The petition contended that making CLAT-PG 2023 score mandatory retrospectively, considering the closed application window, was arbitrary, unjustified, and unconstitutional. The petitioner highlighted that CLAT-PG 2023 played no role in the selection procedure for the JAG Cadre, and its inclusion created an unnecessary hurdle without adding merit to the selection process.

The court, however, ruled that such matters involving educational qualifications and eligibility criteria were not fit for adjudication through a PIL and dismissed the case.