Delhi HC Quashes St Stephen's Plea, Directs It To Follow DU's Admission Process

St Stephen's had challenged DU's letter asking it to provide 100 percent weightage to CUET marks for admissions.

St Stephen's College. Image used for representational purposes only. 

(Photo: The Quint/Namita Chauhan)

The Delhi High Court on Monday, 12 September, directed St Stephen's College to conform to the admission policy set by Delhi University (DU) and accord 100 percent weightage to the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) 2022 marks while providing admission to non-minority students for undergraduate programmes.

"The petitioner is directed to follow the admission policy 2022-2023 as formulated by respondent 1 to this extent. The petitioner college must withdraw its admission prospectus and issue of public notice," the court said, as per news agency PTI.

However, the bench, headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, said that the DU "cannot insist upon a single merit list for admission of candidates belonging to Christian community regardless of denomination etc."

Further, the bench remarked that the fundamental right prescribed under Article 30(1) of the Constitution, accorded to minority institutions, cannot be considered valid for non-minority admissions.

"Aided minority institutions must follow the norms and procedure of the said university. Protection under Article 30 (1) can be extended to the extent that it allows minority institutions to sub-classify the reservation accorded to minority community," the bench said.

This judgment comes in response to a petition by a law student, named Konika Poddar, and St Stephen's College with regard to the legality of the admission process of students against unreserved non-minority seats for undergraduate programmes.

In her plea, Poddar had urged the court to direct the college to take admission for unreserved seats only on the basis of marks obtained in the CUET.

St Stephen's had challenged DU's letter asking it to withdraw its prospectus providing 85 percent weightage to CUET and 15 percent to the interview for admission for the unreserved seats in undergraduate programmes.

(With inputs from PTI.)