DU Admissions 2023: Delhi HC urges University's position on St Stephen's stand regarding CUET-based admissions

New Delhi: On Thursday, the Delhi High Court requested Delhi University's answer to a petition brought by St. Stephen's College challenging the institution's directive that admission under the minority quota is based exclusively on the results of the common university entrance test (CUET), without an interview.

On the basis of the college's argument, a bench consisting of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad issued letters to DU and UGC and requested that they submit their responses.

The court stated orally that the DU communication was "contrary" to a ruling it made over the admissions procedure last year. This judgement led it to the conclusion that the college could publish a prospectus.

The decision from the previous year allowed St. Stephen's College to admit minority students by conducting additional interviews, but it upheld the CUET score's 100% weightage for non-minority candidates.

“The Delhi University has now resolved that for admissions during the current academic year (2023), even regarding 50 percent Christian quota of seats admission shall be only based on CUET score and no interview and addition of 15 percent marks for interview will be permitted,” stated the plea.

For admission to its unreserved seats in UG programmes, the institute last year filed a petition disputing DU's letter demanding it to withdraw its prospectus that awarded CUET and college interviews equal weights of 15% and 85%, respectively.

The Delhi HC ordered St. Stephen's College to give the CUET 2022 score 100% weight when admitting non-minority students to its undergraduate programmes in September 2022, holding that the rights granted to a minority institution under the Constitution cannot be extended to non-minorities.

For the admission of students from minority communities, it was stated that the college has the ability to conduct interviews in addition to the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), but it cannot require non-minority candidates to additionally endure an interview. The case would be discussed again in May.

(Inputs from PTI)