like other Delhi University (DU) College, St Stephen’s College also have to follow CUET admission process for their undergraduate courses. The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay the order of the Delhi High Court which asked
Colleges to follow the admission policy set by DU. St Stephen’s College had earlier sought permission to conduct interviews for general category students with Common University Entrance Test (CUET) 2022 scores.
Let’s look at the timeline of events of the admissions process and the differences between St. Stephens College and DU:
St. Stephen’s released the prospectus: On May 9, DU wrote to St. Stephen’s College asking it to take admission on unreserved seats only on the basis of CUET scores. However, the college released its prospectus stating the eligibility criteria, “85 percent weightage for CUET and 15 percent weightage in interview of the college for shortlisted candidates.”
Emphasizing on the character of its minority institution, the college said that it will give 85 percent weightage to CUET scores for all categories of candidates and 15 percent weightage to physical interview. This was strongly opposed by DU. The College stated that it reserves the right to proceed with the admission as per its admission policy guaranteed as a minority institution.
DU warns St. Stephens: After the college released its prospectus, DU warned St Stephen’s College that it would declare all admissions made by it “null and void” in violation of CUET guidelines. The university asked the college to immediately withdraw the prospectus containing the “inconsistent policy”. It states that any admission made in violation of the university’s admission norms will not be recognized and will be liable to be canceled for all purposes.
St. Stephen’s College wrote a letter to DU: College writes letter to DU before CUET starts in May stating that it will retain its ‘tried and trusted’ interview process Admission for its UG courses. It urged DU to comply with the 1992 Supreme Court judgment and “avoid creating an unpleasant situation” for students seeking admission in the college. Candidates applying to St. Stephens will face a similar admission process without any discrimination.
In a letter to DU registrar Vikas Gupta, college principal John Varghese said, “The decision taken by the college to maintain its stellar, tried and trusted interview process and other relevant steps in the admission process will continue. All the candidates applying to the college will face the same admission process without any discrimination.
Referring to the 1992 judgment of the Supreme Court, the principal said, “Its admission procedures at St. Stephen’s College as a Christian minority institution are approved by the Supreme Court of the country and guaranteed by the Constitution of India.” “Prospectus uploaded keeping in view our obligations, duties, rights and privileges as one of the premier educational institutions of this country”, he said.
DU meeting: After several meetings with DU officials, St Stephen’s issued a press statement on 20 April saying it had informed DU’s VC. He said that in keeping with the spirit of constitutional rights enjoyed by the college, there would be no discrimination between minority and non-minority applicants with respect to the 85 percent + 15 percent formula for admission to the college.
DU sought legal opinion The university sought legal opinion. This allowed the college to conduct interviews only for reserved category students. Delhi University Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh said, ‘We have sought legal opinion To understand the extent to which the provisions are applicable on this issue. The matter was referred to legal experts on Monday. St. Stephen’s College has said that they have the right to interview for all seats but we are saying that this right is limited to seats reserved for minorities. And they (colleges) are planning to enforce the right on general seats as well. We have asked them for a legal opinion on a legally guaranteed right. We are expecting a reply in a few days.”
Petition in Delhi HC: A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justices Subramaniam Prasad to hear the plea of the college, It asked the college to follow the admission policy formulated by DU according to which 100 percent weightage is to be given to CUET 2022 score. The HC said that St Stephen’s College cannot be allowed to bring subjective bias and discrimination by conducting interviews for students from non-minority communities. The university, in its affidavit, has said that the law is well established that aided minority educational institutions cannot admit students under the ‘unreserved category’ as per their choice and choice.
After the Delhi HC’s disapproval, St. Stephen’s College filed a petition in the SC.
DU postpones cut off list amid controversy Delhi University will not release the cut-off list today. The program has been postponed due to the ongoing matter between University and St Stephen’s College. It was supposed to announce the first list of seat allotment in its colleges on October 18, but the process was postponed by a day on October 19.
The Supreme Court heard the matter: The Supreme Court, after hearing the petition on October 19, refused to stay the Delhi High Court order directing the college to admit non-minority students only on the basis of CUET scores and not interviews Through. “We find no reason to stay the operation of the judgment. The application for interim relief is dismissed,” a bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and CT Ravi Kumar said in an order.
St Stephen’s then removed the prospectus from its website.
DU released its first merit list on Wednesday evening. Candidates will have till October 22 to accept their allotment. The second merit list will be released by DU on October 30. Around 2.17 lakh candidates had applied for DU admission this year. Till last year, admission to undergraduate courses was done on the basis of class 12 board exam scores. Many reputed colleges had set a high cut-off of around 100 percent for the highly sought-after courses in their colleges. CUET has now brought an opportunity for many students to get admission in their favorite colleges and courses without worrying about the high cut-off.
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