Admission interview: Stephen’s to move Supreme Court against HC verdict

While the college asserts that it will interview all aspirants, besides considering the CUET scores, the university maintains that the college must admit students from other non-minority categories on the basis of test marks only.

The governing body of St Stephen’s College on Tuesday decided that it will move the Supreme Court against the September 12 Delhi high court’s order that directed the institution to consider only Common University Entrance Test (CUET) scores for admitting non-minority students.

DU registrar Vikas Gupta said that the university has not received any information about the decision by Stephen’s. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The college, a Christian minority institution, and the Delhi University are at loggerheads over the admission process for undergraduate courses. While the college asserts that it will interview all aspirants, besides considering the CUET scores, the university maintains that the college must admit students from other non-minority categories on the basis of test marks only.

Although DU opened its admission portal for registration on September 12, Stephen’s did not issue a fresh prospectus with amended provisions as mandated by the high court. With the college now planning to approach the Supreme Court, uncertainty prevails over undergraduate admissions.

Twelve of the 17 members of the college’s governing body on Tuesday supported a proposal to challenge the high court verdict in the top court. Five members -- three teachers and two DU representatives -- registered their dissent.

“The agenda of the meeting was to discuss the high court’s order on the admission process and if it should be challenged in the Supreme Court. A vote was carried out in which 12 people voted in favour of the proposal while five dissented. Thus, it was decided that the college will approach the Supreme Court,” said a member of the governing body who asked not to be named.

DU registrar Vikas Gupta said that the university has not received any information about the decision by Stephen’s. “We have no information about this as of today. If the college decides to approach the Supreme Court, the university will defend its decision,” said Gupta.

In its verdict, the high court ruled that while the college retains authority to conduct interviews in addition to CUET score for the admission of students belonging to the minority community, it cannot devise a policy that forces the non-minority students to undergo an interview as well. The court also directed the college to withdraw its prospectus and issue a fresh one with the amended provisions.

The governing body member quoted above said that some teachers proposed that while the college approaches the Supreme Court, it should go ahead with the admission process (on the basis of only CUET score) so that there is no delay or uncertainty regarding admissions. “Teachers said that court proceedings may take time but at least for this year, we could go ahead with the admission process so that we don’t end up in a situation where there are no first-year students. This will adversely affect the workload and the academic cycle which will be dangerous for the college,” the member said.

He said that one of the university representatives raised concerns about the “legality” of the meeting since it was attended by principal John Verghese . The representative said that DU has rejected the “reappointment” of Verghese as the college principal, and the matter should be resolved before holding a meeting of the governing body. “Members of the Supreme Council of the college, who are also part of the GB, said that the matter pertaining to the principal was between the supreme council and DU and hence couldn’t be discussed at the meeting,” the member said.