St Stephen’s breached norms for hiring professors: DU panel

The five-member panel examined the college’s recruitment process and concluded that it had breached the university’s revised 2024 SOP, according to a report, accessed by HT.

A Delhi University (DU) committee has found that St Stephen’s College violated the university’s prescribed criteria for shortlisting candidates for assistant professor interviews, allegedly calling more applicants against what is permitted, people aware of the matter said on Sunday.

DU issued its SOP for assistant professor recruitment on June 3, 2024.

The five-member panel, headed by professor Inder Mohan Kapahy, examined the college’s recruitment process and concluded that it had breached the university’s revised 2024 standard operating procedure (SOP), according to a report, accessed by HT.

“A notice on the college’s website stated that 70 candidates would be shortlisted for each unreserved vacancy for the post of assistant professor,” the report said. The committee concluded that the college had made appointments in violation of the shortlisting criteria approved by DU’s statutory bodies, allegedly to accommodate candidates who would otherwise have been ineligible for consideration by the selection committee.

Queries sent to DU and St Stephen’s principal did not elicit a response.

HT reported in April that DU’s executive council had constituted a committee to investigate alleged irregularities in appointments at the college, citing discrepancies between its shortlisting criteria and university regulations. In a statement dated April 29, the university said the college was shortlisting 70 candidates per unreserved vacancy, against the prescribed limit of 40 for the first vacancy and 20 for each subsequent one.

DU issued its SOP for assistant professor recruitment on June 3, 2024. It applies to recruitment advertisements issued on or after December 1, 2023, and those whose application deadlines fell on or after that date.

Under the guidelines, applicants are assessed on a 100-point academic performance indicator scale. The screening committee must rank candidates in descending order of merit, with those scoring fewer than 55 marks ineligible for shortlisting. Candidates from the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and persons with benchmark disabilities (PwBD) categories receive a five-mark relaxation.

The SOP further stipulates that candidates must be shortlisted category-wise and in order of merit, with 40 called for interviews for the first vacancy and 20 for every additional vacancy.

St Stephen’s issued a recruitment notification in July 2025 for assistant professor posts across several departments. These included four vacancies in Philosophy, two each in Mathematics, History, English and Hindi, three in Physics and five in Chemistry, alongside single vacancies in Computer Science, Sanskrit, Physical Education, Political Science and Economics.

The panel’s report said the college called more than 75 candidates for interviews for vacancies in each of these subjects, exceeding the university’s prescribed shortlisting limits.