Mangaluru: On June 3, The Wire published a detailed report on the systematic exclusion of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and other marginalised students from the Maharashtra National Law University (MNLU), Nagpur’s PhD programme. A day later, the university issued a new notification – an exclusive drive to take students from communities it has been excluding year after year. The notification mentioned 19 seats, allocated to students falling under different marginalised subgroups. While on the face of it, it appears that the university is trying to correct enduring wrongs, the new notification, in reality, is more violative than ever.Last year, the university advertised 35 PhD seats. Of these, 22 students, all belonging to the unreserved (Savarna) category, were selected. Among the reserved categories, only three OBC candidates (against seven earmarked seats) and one candidate from the Nomadic community (against three seats) secured admission. In all, the university admitted 26 students, while ten seats were left vacant.With the new advertisement coming into effect, the total number of seats has increased to 45. There is no clarity whether the university plans to fill the nine vacant seats. As per the Maharashtra reservation policy, 26 of the total seats should be assigned to students from various reserved categories. However, the university has permitted only 22 reserved seats. Additionally, 18 seats should be allocated to candidates belonging to the unreserved category. Yet, as per the earlier notification, the university had already selected 22 students from the category.On June 3, The Wire had reported on a complaint filed by Dipak Kharat before the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. Kharat, a law graduate, belongs to one of the Nomadic Tribes and had to approach the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court to secure his PhD admission at the university. Although he had qualified in the entrance test and submitted his research proposal, he was not selected during the final interview round. The high court came down heavily on the university and Kharat was eventually granted admission.Also read: How Maharashtra Law University Fills Reserved PhD Seats With General Category StudentsThe court, among several other observations, had asked the university to scrap its 50% cut off that applied to students belonging to the reserved category. When the counsel appearing for the university claimed that Kharat did not meet the 50% cut off category, Justice Anil Pansare, hearing the case, had asked, “Who are you to decide? For a student belonging to a [reserved] category, you should be a little lenient.” This observation also reflects in the order as one of the directives to the university.If MNLU can no longer have a cut-off mark, several questions arise. Why has the university decided to conduct a new round of entrance tests now, when the high court clearly stated it is no longer a requirement? What happens to the 20 students, who had already appeared for the exam and qualified, but were not admitted?Of all national law schools in India, the three NLUs set up in Maharashtra – Nagpur, Aurangabad and Mumbai – are relatively new ones. Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had a hand in getting these universities to the state a decade ago.MNLU, Nagpur, established in Fadnavis’s home turf, has had the same vice-chancellor, Vijender Kumar, since 2015. Along with being the VC, Kumar is also the Chairman of Doctoral Council and Research Committee, playing a direct role in the selection of PhD candidates. The Wire wrote to Kumar, the university proctor Vijay Pratap Tiwari and the registrar Deepak Bhagwat. While Kumar and Bhagwat did not respond, Tiwari claimed the questions pertaining to the new notification can only be answered by the VC. Tiwari is also the university’s public relations officer and is entrusted with responding to media queries. This article will be updated as and when the VC responds.As per the new notification, aspiring candidates can appear for exams only in July. The 2026 batch for the PhD programme has already commenced in March, with students on the verge of completing their coursework.The incoming batch will only have students belonging to various reserved categories. Kharat says, by this act, the university has “virtually segregated students on the basis of their caste identities.” “The first batch is for the Savarnas and the new batch will end up being known as the ‘reserved’ batch,” he points out. In the questions sent to the university officials, The Wire questioned if students were being segregated according to their caste identities. No response was received.This is not a one off issue. Since 2017, the university should have had at least 89 students from different reserved categories. However, the data shows that only about 22 students have been selected. Reservation is a constitutionally guaranteed right and denying admission to students is a clear violation of this protection.