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College takes down from its website the prospectus which was at the centre of a discord with Delhi University

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The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay a Delhi High Court order that directed St. Stephen’s College, a minority institution, to admit non-minority students on the sole basis of marks obtained in the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) and not through interviews.

The court did not accept immediately the college’s contention that almost all reputable institutions across the world follow an interview-based admission policy.

Following the Supreme Court’s refusal to grant the interim relief, St. Stephen’s took down from its website the prospectus which was at the centre of a discord between the college and its governing entity, Delhi University (DU).

“We find no reason to stay the operation of the judgment. Application for interim relief is dismissed,” a bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and C.T. Ravi Kumar said in an order.

The special leave petition filed by the college has been posted for further hearing in March next year when the court will examine the DU policy vis-à-vis minority institutions.

St. Stephen’s had sought an interim stay on the September 12 order of the high court. That order had directed the institution to adhere to the DU policy that relies only on CUET scores for admitting non-minority candidates.

But St. Stephen’s now-dropped prospectus had said 85 per cent weightage would be given to the CUET score and 15 per cent to the interview for admitting non-minority candidates. The college reserves 50 per cent seats for Christians.

When the matter reached the high court, it upheld the DU contention that no exception can be made for St. Stephen’s as uniformity of the admission process had to be ensured. Aggrieved, the college had moved the apex court.

During the hearing on Wednesday, solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, appearing for DU, contended that if the St. Stephen’s plea was allowed, there would be a barrage of similar applications by other minority institutions. “No other minority college has questioned the policy but they will now do it,” Mehta said.

The bench remarked: “Let there be one standard for everyone. If uniformity is now being brought in, what is the relevance of interviews now?”

Mehta submitted that CUET was for common assessment, and the university was keen that only meritorious candidates were admitted.

However, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for St. Stephen’s College, referred to the National Education Policy of the central government, according to which merit should not be the basis for admissions.

He said the high court passed the order despite the college bringing to its notice the Centre’s new education policy that mandated interview-based selections.

Sibal added that the world over, universities conduct interviews to decide the admission of candidates. “So, what is the objection when all foreign universities follow the method of interviews?” Sibal asked.

He added that the interview process was meant for all students, including those seeking admissions under the minority quota.

“But now the high court order says interview can only be for minority and rest of the admissions as per CUET. That is bad in law, not sustainable and per incuriam (an order passed on erroneous application of facts/ law),” Sibal said.

Mehta countered the argument, saying: “CUET is for common assessment…. We only want a merit system for the unserved category to be followed.”

Justice Rastogi then asked: “Why cannot it be purely merit-based even for reserved seats since the central government has allowed a 50 per cent Christian quota?”

The bench asked about the practice that had been followed by the college over the years.

Sibal said that for the past 40 years, the institution was following the process of interview for granting a 15 per cent weightage. Mehta said the CUET system was adopted to ensure parity for students of different boards.

The bench later passed the interim order, refusing to interfere with the high court order.

(Additional reporting from PTI)

Once again St Stephens college and Delhi University (DU) are at loggerheads with each other over the admission process. The DU VC Yogesh Singh said that the CUET admission process will be followed 100 per cent in all colleges that include St Stephen’s as well.

“We are in talks with St Stephen’s college we believe this time they should not have any issue in carrying out the admission process the way it is stated in the university prospectus. Last time they conducted interviews only for minority students this time there will be no interview for either non-minority or minority students,” Singh told News18.com.

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However, St Stephen’s College has a different take on the issue. “The matter is in SC. We will deal with it there. I don’t know how can someone take such calls when the matter is sub judice. We will do what the court will ask us to do,” principal John Verghese told News18.com.

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Last year in April, St Stephen’s college issued a circular stating that it will provide admissions based on the 85:15 (CUET: interview) formula for all seat categories. The Delhi University at that point informed St Stephen’s that any admission made by it in violation of CUET guidelines will be declared null and void. The university, also stated there could not be a separate admission process for one college when the other 62 were taking only the CUET score into account for admission.

St Stephen’s College later moved Delhi high court, which ruled in favour of the university. The court directed the college to issue a fresh admission prospectus and give 100 per cent weightage to the CUET score. The college further challenged the order in the Supreme Court which directed the college to conduct admission for the general category on the basis of CUET score and can take interviews of minority students for the reserved seat.

However, this time the Delhi University VC says that there will no interviews for the general or minority category students. Though the Supreme Court had dismissed the petition filed by St Stephen’s in October last year, the college says the matter is still in the court and a decision will be taken based on what the court says.

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday refused to stay the Delhi High Court order asking St. Stephen's College to follow the admission policy prescribed by the Delhi University under which it cannot hold interviews for non-minority students in undergraduate courses.

A bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and C T Ravikumar said it was not inclined to interfere with the HC judgement, prompting the prestigious college to take down from its website a contentious prospectus which was at the centre of a discord between the college and its governing Delhi University.

"We find no reason to stay the judgement, therefore the application for interim relief is dismissed," the bench said.

The top court was hearing a plea of St Stephen's College against a Delhi High Court order which asked it to follow the admission policy of the Delhi University.

According to the prospectus, which was on the college website since May, 85 per cent weightage was to be given to the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) score and 15 per cent to interview, which was against the Delhi University's criteria that accorded 100 per cent weightage to the CUET and did not provide for an interview.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the college, said the interview process was applicable to all and not just non-minority students.

"Delhi High Court order says interview can only be for minority and rest as per Common University Entrance Test. That is bad in law and unsustainable," he asserted.

The senior lawyer said the college has, for the last 40 years, given 15 per cent weightage to interview for admission against unreserved seats.

Sibal also referred to the New Education Policy (NEP) of the government and said marks should not be the criteria for admission in colleges.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Delhi University, submitted imposing a stay on the high court order will have a detrimental effect on the academic environment.

Mehta contended the CUET has been introduced with a view to having a common standard of assessment and there is no requirement of a separate interview by the college.

The Delhi High Court had on September 12 asked the Christian minority institution to follow the admission policy formulated by the Delhi University according to which 100 per cent weightage has to be given to the CUET-2022 score while granting admission to non-minority students in its undergraduate courses.

The high court had said the college cannot conduct interviews for non-minority category students and admissions should be as per the CUET score alone.

The high court had also said the rights accorded to a minority institution under the Constitution cannot be extended to non-minorities.

It had said the college has the authority to conduct interviews, in addition to the CUET score, for admitting Christian students but it cannot force non-minority candidates to additionally appear for an interview.

The HC bench, while asking the college to withdraw its prospectus giving 15 per cent weightage to interview for admission against unreserved seats, besides taking into consideration the CUET score of a candidate, had, however, ruled the DU "cannot insist upon a single merit list for admission of candidates belonging to the Christian community regardless of denomination, etc".

The high court's order had come on petitions filed by a law student and the college with respect to the legality of the procedure for admission of students against unreserved non-minority seats for UG courses.

Supreme Court of India will be hearing the plea filed by St Stephen’s College challenging the order issued by the Delhi High Court regarding Delhi University’s Admission policy for the session of 2022 to 2023. As per reports, St Stephen’s has filed a petition challenging the HC's order to seek for interim relief for DU’s 100 percent CUET admission policy.

The matter will be heard by Justices Ajay Rastogi and CT Ravikumar, as per the instructions delivered by Chief Justice of India, CJI U.U. Lalit. Justices Sanjay Kaul and KM Joseph were also expected to be part of this bench, however, both the SC Judges recused themselves from hearing the plea filed by St Stephen’s College.

Justice Sanjay Kaul recused himself from the matter as he is an alumni of St Stephen’s College and Justice Joseph recused himself due to an apprehension that the briefs he heard as an advocate would be prejudicial to the case.

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St Stephen's College decided to move to the Supreme Court to challenge the order passed by the Delhi High Court on September 12, 2022. Delhi HC had asked the Christian minority institute to withdraw its prospectus for undergraduate admissions and admit non-minority students solely based on CUET UG Scores.

St Stephen's College has been in a long tussle with Delhi University regarding the admission policy. As per the prospectus issued by Stephen's, the admission for non-minority would be done on the basis of 85 percent weightage for CUET UG scores and 15 percent for interviews.

However, Delhi University had instructed all DU affiliated colleges to admit students and give 100 percent weightage to CUET scores. However, St Stephen's decided to go ahead with interviews as well. The matter will now be heard by the apex court of India.

The Supreme Court Wednesday refused to stay the Delhi High Court order asking St. Stephen’s College here to follow the admission policy prescribed by the Delhi University.

A bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and C T Ravikumar said it was not inclined to interfere with the HC judgement.

“We find no reason to stay the judgement, therefore the application for interim relief is dismissed,” the bench said. The top court was hearing a plea of St Stephen’s College against a Delhi High Court order which asked it to follow the admission policy of the Delhi University.

The Delhi High Court had on September 12 asked the Christian minority institution to follow the admission policy formulated by the Delhi University according to which 100 per cent weightage has to be given to the Common University Entrance Test (CUET)-2022 score while granting admission to non-minority students in its undergraduate courses.

The high court had said the college cannot conduct interviews for non-minority category students and that the admission should be as per the CUET score alone. The high court had also said the rights accorded to a minority institution under the Constitution cannot be extended to non-minorities.

It had said the college has the authority to conduct interviews, in addition to the CUET score, for admitting Christian students but it cannot force non-minority candidates to additionally appear for an interview.

The HC bench, while asking the St Stephen’s College to withdraw its prospectus giving 15 per cent weightage to interview for admission against unreserved seats, besides taking into consideration the CUET score of a candidate, had, however, ruled the DU “cannot insist upon a single merit list for admission of candidates belonging to the Christian community regardless of denomination, etc”.

The high court’s order had come on petitions filed by a law student and the college with respect to the legality of the procedure for admission of students against unreserved non-minority seats for UG courses.

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