Delhi HC reserves order on pleas concerning admissions at St Stephen’s College

NEW DELHI: On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court postponed making a decision on appeals involving complaints regarding St. Stephen’s College’s admission policies for its “unreserved seats” in undergraduate programmes. The arguments made by the parties on the petitions filed by a law student and St. Stephen’s College were heard by a bench consisting of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad.

In her public interest lawsuit, law student Konika Poddar asked St. Stephen’s College to admit students to its “unreserved seats” purely based on their scores on the common university entrance exam (CUET). On the other hand, St Stephen’s College contested Delhi University’s (DU) letter requesting that it delete its prospectus that assigned the common university entrance test (CUET) 85% weight and the college interview 15% weight for admission to its unreserved seats in UG courses. Earlier, the university’s letter withdrawing the college prospectus for the academic year 2022–2023 was not temporarily overturned by the high court.

Konika Poddar, a law student, requested in her public interest lawsuit that St. Stephen’s College admit students to its “unreserved seats” only based on their performance on the common university entrance exam (CUET). On the other hand, St Stephen’s College contested Delhi University (DUletter )’s requesting that it retract its prospectus that accorded the common university entrance test (CUET) and college interviews equal weight when it came to admission for its open seats in UG programmes. The university’s letter to withdraw the college prospectus for the academic year 2022–2023 was previously declined to be temporarily stayed by the high court.