The St Stephen's College admission row, which is being heard at the Delhi High Court now, has taken a new turn. The High Court refused to stay the Delhi University's letter issued earlier to the college. The letter had asked the college, which is affiliated to the varsity, to withdraw its admission prospectus.
The college had filed a stay application in the High Court, challenging the university's letter. A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Sachin Datta issued a notice on the stay application and petition filed by the college, as reported by PTI.
"We are not going to say anything. You may stick to your stand. If you are not complying with their other directions, you don't comply with this also. Who is stopping you?" the Bench said when the counsel appearing for St Stephen's College urged the court to clarify that the varsity would not initiate any action against the college in future.
The college's counsel also said, "If we withdraw the prospectus, the matter becomes infructuous," to which the Bench replied, "Don't do it".
The issue cropped up when St Stephen's College brought out its prospectus for the admission to undergraduate courses for the academic year of 2022-23. The prospectus states that the college will adopt the 85:15 weightage for the admissions, with 85 per cent weightage given for CUET and the college's interview for shortlisted candidates being 15 per cent, for all the candidates.
It has been reported that the Registrar of Delhi University had written a letter to the college, warning them that if the prospectus issued by the college is not withdrawn and if it conducts any admission based on its admission policy, the varsity will not accept those admissions and they will be treated as null and void.
The Bench has listed the matter for further hearing on July 6, along with another petition filed by a law student who has sought direction to the college to take admission on its 'unreserved seats' in undergraduate courses only based on marks received by students in the common university entrance test (CUET), as mandated by Delhi University, PTI reported.
"On April 20, the college refused to follow the instructions of Delhi University and issued a press release and admission notice stating that the college will conduct interviews for both reserved and unreserved seats and give 15 per cent weightage to interview and 85 per cent weightage to CUET marks at the time of admission in its undergraduate courses," a section of the petition filed by the law student in the matter states.