Shubham Kumar Jha v. The National Law School Of India University & ORS.

$~3 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(C) 3907/2020 SHUBHAM KUMAR JHA ..... Petitioner Through:

Mr.Shadan Farasat with Mr.Shourya Dasgupta, Advocates.

versus THE NATIONAL LAW SCHOOL OF INDIA UNIVERSITY & ORS.

..... Respondents Through:

Mr.Maanav Kumar, Advocate for R1.

Mr.Chetan Sharma, ASG with Ms.Monika Arora, Standing Counsel and Ms.Ankita Shah, Advocate for R2.

Mr.Preetpal Singh with Mr.Vikrant Pachnanda and Mr.Sourav Sharma, Advocates for R3/Bar Council of India.

Mr.Shubhranshu Padhi, Advocate for State of Karnataka.

Mr.Vinayak Mehrotra, Advocate for R5/Consortium of NLUs.

Mr.Apoorv Kurup and Ms.Nidhi Mittal, Advocates for R6/UGC.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE HIMA KOHLI HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SUBRAMONIUM PRASAD

O R D E R

% 03.07.2020 HEARD THROUGH VIDEO CONFERENCING.

CM APPLs.13978/2020, 13979/2020 and 13981/2020 (Exemption) Allowed, subject to all just exceptions.

W.P.(C) 3907/2020, CM APPLs.13977/2020 (stay) and 13980/2020 1.

The petitioner, a resident of Delhi, has filed the present petition against six respondents namely respondent No.1/National Law School of W.P.(C) 3907/2020 Page 1 of 2

India University, Bangalore; respondent No.2/Ministry of Human Resource Development, Union of India, Delhi; respondent No.3/Bar Council of India, Delhi; respondent No.4/State of Karnataka; respondent No.5/Consortium of NLUs, Bangalore and respondent No.6/University Grants Commission, New Delhi, praying inter alia for issuing a writ of mandamus declaring the National Law School of India (Amendment) Act, 2020, whereunder, horizontal domicile reservation by way of institutional preference of 25% in the Respondent No.1/NLU has been granted for students of Karnataka that had received the assent of the Governor of the State of Karnataka, as illegal and ultra vires the constitution.

2.

At the outset, we have indicated to Mr.Farasat, learned counsel for the petitioner that as the relief in the present petition is directed against the respondent No.1/NLU, Bangalore and the respondent No.4/State of Karnataka, we are not inclined to exercise our discretion and entertain the present petition by invoking the doctrine of forum conveniens. 3.

After addressing arguments for some time, learned counsel for the petitioner seeks leave to withdraw the present petition while reserving the right of the petitioner to seek legal recourse before the appropriate court. 4.

Leave as prayed for, is granted. The present petition is dismissed as withdrawn along with the pending applications. HIMA KOHLI, J SUBRAMONIUM PRASAD, J JULY 03, 2020 tr/rkb W.P.(C) 3907/2020 Page 2 of 2