In august, when Shakti Agarwal completed LLM with first division from Delhi University's Faculty of Law, the sky seemed to be the limit. Back then, his application for PhD in Law was also under consideration.

Battling blindness and osteoporosis, 32-year-old Agarwal felt he had accomplished quite a feat — enthusiastically looking forward to becoming the second ever visually-impaired candidate in the university's history to pursue a doctorate in law. “Having scored 64 per cent marks in LLM, I was assured I would get the admission. And I did. However, I did not get to stay in DU’s Gwyer Hall hostel, where I was housed since 2006, when I enrolled for LLB. I was the highest-scoring candidate to apply for the hostel, and was the only one who was pursuing his Ph D in Law,” said Agarwal. The hostel authorities, however, would not let him in.

“I had submitted the application form to the hostel authorities in August, when my Ph D was under consideration. After being selected for the doctorate course, the authorities were supposed to return my form so I could re-submit it after getting endorsement from the course guide. They did not return my form, and I had to submit another one. The final hostel admission list came out on December 2, but it did not have my name. When I submitted my objections to the list, I was threatened,” Agarwal told Newsline. He had now moved a petition in the Delhi High Court.

Reading out from a petition filed through advocate Lalit Kumar Jha, Agarwal said the decision of the authorities was “filled with malice” because they were disgruntled over another writ petition he had filed in 2009, alleging inadequate security in the university campus and its hostels.

Agarwal’s previous petition pertained to the theft of his laptop from his hostel room. He reported the incident at Maurice Nagar police station on September 20, 2009, but the FIR was not registered immediately on the grounds that his complaint was not forwarded by the hostel warden. Finding the explanation “unacceptable”, the court sought a response from the DCP (North) as well as one from the university over stepping up security in the university campus.

Last month, a fine of Rs 3,000 was imposed on the police for not filing its reply. This matter will now be taken up in February.

“I was told that I was not being allotted a seat because of this petition, besides a stipulation that a student cannot be allowed to continue in a hostel for more than five years,” Agarwal said.

On Wednesday, when the matter came up for hearing before Justice Hima Kohli, the university's counsel argued that Agarwal cannot stay for more than five years, irrespective of the course.

“But dissimilar people cannot be treated equally. The petitioner is visually impaired and has osteoporosis with severely increased fracture risk, when compared to the normal population. All the other hostels have been allotted, so why deny Gwyer Hall to somebody who is taking a course in Ph D Law? The hostel has vacant seats, and it must be given to the petitioner,” argued Jha.

To this, Justice Kohli asked the university's counsel to ascertain if there were any vacant seats in the hostel, and if there are, what reservations do the hostel authorities have for allotting it to the petitioner. The court posted the matter to first week of January.