Delhi HC Permits St Stephen's College to Hold Interviews for Minority Seat Admissions

The Delhi High Court has granted permission to St. Stephen's College and Jesus and Mary College to conduct interviews for admission to students under the minority quota, in addition to considering their common university entrance test scores. Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma headed the bench that issued this permission. The court's decision came after the two minority colleges filed applications to challenge a December 8, 2022, decision of the Delhi University's executive council, which insisted on giving 100 percent weightage to the CUET 2023 score for admission to the minority quota.

The court also addressed a petition filed by Sharon Ann George, who opposed the inclusion of interviews for minority students at St. Stephen's College alongside the CUET. In its order, the court referred to an earlier judgment where it had ruled that St. Stephen's College has the right to conduct interviews with 15 percent weightage specifically for minority students but not for non-minority students.

The court found fault with the DU's decision to disregard its earlier ruling and impose CUET as the sole basis for admission to minority seats for the academic year 2023-24. As an interim measure, the court directed St. Stephen's College to follow the admission policy laid out in its judgment dated September 12, 2022. The policy includes giving 85 percent weightage to the CUET and 15 percent weightage for the college's interview for shortlisted Christian minority candidates.

Admitting the petitions, the court acknowledged that the colleges would suffer irreparable losses without interim relief. Senior advocates A Mariarputham and Romy Chacko represented the petitioner colleges, while senior advocate Arun Bhardwaj represented petitioner Sharon Ann George.

The dispute between St. Stephen's College and the DU dates back to last year when the college challenged the DU's request to withdraw its prospectus, which gave 85 percent weightage to the CUET and 15 percent to the college interview for admission to unreserved seats in undergraduate courses. The court had ruled in September 2022 that while non-minority students must be granted admission based on 100 percent CUET scores, the college could conduct interviews for admitting minority community students in addition to the common university entrance test.

Earlier this year, St. Stephen's College filed the current petition against the DU's notification, asserting its rights as a minority educational institution under the Constitution to select students for admission and administer the institution. The college argued that the DU's decision to deny it the right to conduct interviews for admission to undergraduate courses in the minority category went against the court's previous judgment that recognized the college's right to conduct interviews for selecting minority category students.