Today, On 10th September, The Delhi High Court permitted seven students to attend classes at St. Stephen’s College, while restraining Delhi University (DU) from allocating any more seats in the meantime. The court’s decision comes amid an ongoing dispute regarding admission procedures at the college. The High Court emphasized that no further seat allocation should take place until the matter is resolved.
New Delhi: The Division Bench of the Delhi High Court on Tuesday allowed seven students to attend classes at St. Stephen’s College, based on seat allocations by Delhi University.
However, the court instructed Delhi University not to make further seat allocations while the case is still under judicial review.
The bench, consisting of acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, issued notices and requested responses from both the university and the students.
This ruling follows an appeal by St. Stephen’s College, which challenged an earlier order from a single judge that allowed these students’ admission based on university allocations.
Previously, on Friday, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma ruled that, since the university’s seat allocation formula hadn’t been invalidated, the college required to admit the students according to the prior year’s policy. The college also directed to ensure that the students could begin attending classes after completing any necessary formalities.
The High Court’s ruling was in response to two petitions filed by the students challenging the college’s admission process, with the court affirming that St. Stephen’s College must follow the seat allocations set by Delhi University.
The petitioners argued that, despite being allocated seats for various courses at St. Stephen’s College through Delhi University, their admissions were not finalized within the designated time. While the university supported the students’ claims, St. Stephen’s College opposed them.
The college contested Delhi University’s stance, asserting that it was not required to admit every student allocated a seat through the university’s common seat allocation system, due to limitations on the number of students it could accommodate.
Initially, a single-judge bench granted provisional admission to six of the students, recognizing that they had fulfilled all criteria but were left in a state of uncertainty despite their qualifications.
However, St. Stephen’s College appealed this decision, resulting in the division bench’s order preventing the students from attending classes until the main petition was settled. A seventh student later joined the case, with all petitioners seeking admission under Delhi University’s ‘single girl child quota.’