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St. Stephen’s College on Thursday asked Delhi University (DU) to reconsider its stand and accept the college’s request to conduct interviews for all applicants for admission to undergraduate courses.
In his letter, college principal John Varghese said the college intends to pursue CUET as decided by the university without compromising the rights and privileges granted to it by the Constitution of India. He also cited a 1992 judgment of the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court which said: “St. Stephen’s as a Christian minority institution has its own admission procedures approved by the highest court of the country and guaranteed by the Constitution of India.”
He added that the university had not taken into consideration the 1992 decision which happened during a similar standoff between the college and DU. “Both the university and the college have seen this to the benefit of all. To suddenly forget the process that the college has followed and that the university has endorsed for the past four decades and more is truly strange,” Varghese wrote.
While asking the university to comply with the Supreme Court ruling, Varghese said all applicants who apply to the college will face the same admissions procedures, without discrimination. “As an institution managed and directed by the Church of North India, we reserve the right to encourage and support members of the denomination that runs the college,” he wrote.
Delhi University on Tuesday informed the minority institution that it will cancel all admissions made by the college in violation of the Central Universities Common Entrance Test (CUET) guidelines after the college released a prospectus reiterating that it will admit students in B.Sc. courses while adhering to the stated weightage formula of 85:15 (CUET Result: Interviews). In the prospectus, the college said it will accept CUET as eligibility criteria with 85% weightage given to CUET scores and 15% to personal interviews. While the college wants to conduct interviews for all applicants, DU wants students to be admitted to general seats only on the basis of CUET results.
Delhi University Registrar Vikas Gupta said they have received the letter and the university will explore all available options and respond to the college in a day or two.
“The college has written to us and requested that the university reconsider its position (regarding conducting interviews for all applicants). They want us to accept their proposed admissions formula. We will evaluate all legal options and return to the college in a day or two,” Gupta said.
Varghese did not return calls and text messages seeking comment on the latest development.
Meanwhile, Gupta cited the example of Christian Medical College, Vellore, which was admitting students to medical courses through entrance tests, and said the court had asked the college to admit students through NEET. “There is a similar opportunity here. If there is a common university entrance test, then why does the college want to have its own mechanism? We need to weigh various options and consider the college’s request. After exploring all the options, we will convey our position to the college,” Gupta said.
Of course, 50% of seats in minority colleges are reserved for students belonging to the community that runs the institution. St. Stephen’s College and Jesus and Mary College are two Christian minority institutions under the University of Delhi.
St Stephen’s has repeatedly stated that it reserves the right to admit students according to its own admissions policy, given that it is a minority institution. The college also issued a circular in April stating that it will provide admission based on a formula of 85% CUET scores and 15% interview marks for all categories. Since then, the college and university have been at loggerheads over the admissions policy.
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