Delhi High Court orders DU to admit 18 students to St Stephen's College under Christian quota

The Delhi High Court on Monday directed Delhi University (DU) to allow admission to eighteen out of nineteen students whose admission to St Stephen's College under the Christian quota had been withheld [St. Stephen’s College v. University of Delhi].Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma was hearing a plea by St Stephen’s College seeking directions to DU to allow admission to these candidates selected under the Christian quota for its undergraduate (UG) courses.The Court held today that eighteen out of the nineteen Christian minority students are entitled to admission. However, it was found that one student was in excess of the 5% allocation..The Court said that Article 30(1) [right of to minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice] is not an absolute right, and even aided minority institutes have to follow governmental norms.It was also observed that St Stephen's cannot claim to have absolute unbridled powers against the rules set up by University to which it is affiliated..The College had submitted that it had forwarded to DU the list of selected Christian candidates for admission by August 24.However, DU did not open its fee portal for the selected candidates to complete their admission process. It also did not upload the names of the candidates on its Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS) portal.UG classes began on August 29, and each day of delay and inaction on the part of DU compounds the misery and humiliation on the candidates, the College stated in its petition.Despite multiple email reminders, DU did not grant admission, it added..DU had agreed before the Delhi High Court that the last date for the payment of fees by the candidates was September 30. On a later date, the University submitted that the cut-off date to pay fees was extended. However, the College pointed out that the fees portal had still not been opened to the candidates in question..The College, being a Christian minority institution has been allowed by Delhi High Court to grant admission under the Christian quota, on the basis of 85% weightage to Common Undergraduate Entrance Test (CUET) marks and 15% weightage to interview round. However, it is the case of St Stephen's that DU has not honoured the admission to the selected Christian candidates. .Senior Advocate Romy Chacko with Advocates Kartik Venu and Akshat Singh appeared for St. Stephen’s College.Advocates Mohinder JS Rupal and Hardik Rupal represented DU.Advocates Anup Kumar, Neha Jaiswal and Shruti Singh appeared for the students.[Read judgment]