St. Stephens will continue with interview process: Principal writes to DU

Delhi: St Stephen's College on Thursday assured that it will retain its 'tried and trusted' interview process during admissions and urged Delhi University to follow the 1992 Supreme Court judgment and "avoid creating an unpleasant situation" for students seeking admission. Responding sharply to the varsity, the college said that all applicants to St Stephen's would be treated equally in the admissions process.

Both sides are expected to escalate the ongoing admission dispute as a result of this latest development. Delhi University recently warned St. Stephen's College it would cancel all admissions made by it contrary to the guidelines of the Central Universities Entrance Test (CUET).

John Varghese, the college's principal, on Thursday wrote a letter to DU Registrar Vikas Gupta with the observation that to suddenly forget the process the college has followed and that the University has approved for four decades is "strange indeed".

"The decision was taken by the college to retain it's stellar tried and trusted interview process and other related steps in the admission process shall continue. All candidates who apply to the college shall face the same admission procedures, without discrimination," Mr Varghese said.

Referring to the 1992 judgment of Supreme Court, the principal said, "St Stephen's College as a Christian minority institution has its admission procedures approved by the highest court in the land and guaranteed by the Constitution of India.

"I feel that you have not taken into consideration this important judgment, which incidentally, was brought up by a similar situation back in the 80s between DU and the College," the letter read.

Disrespecting the judgment would amount to contempt of court said the principal. "This is neither becoming of a central university nor does it set forth a proper precedent. In deference to the judgment of the highest court in the land," he wrote.

The retort from the college comes after the university asked the college to withdraw the prospectus containing an "incongruent policy immediately" and said any admission done in violation of the university's admission norms would not be recognized and treated as annulled for all purposes.

The prospectus for the undergraduate courses 2022-23 stated, "St Stephen's College will adopt the CUET as the eligibility criteria with 85 percent weightage for CUET and the college's interview for shortlisted candidates with a weightage of 15 percent."

Meanwhile, Mr. Varghese mentioned in the letter that the Prospectus of the College for Admissions 2022-2023 was uploaded taking into consideration "our obligations, duties, rights, and privileges as one of the premier educational institutions in this country".

The St. Stephen's College, asserting its minority institution character, has said it will accord 85 percent weightage to the CUET score and 15 percent to physical interviews for all categories of candidates, a stand strongly opposed by DU, which wants interviews to be conducted only for the reserved category students.