85:15 admission row: St Stephen's urges DU to reconsider decision

St. Stephen's College wrote to Delhi University urging it to "reconsider its decision" of treating admissions done through 85:15 weightage formula as "null and void", a senior varsity official said

St. Stephen's College on Thursday wrote to Delhi University urging it to "reconsider its decision" of treating admissions done through the 85:15 weightage formula as "null and void", a senior varsity official said.

In the letter to the Delhi University administration, the college mentioned that in 1992, the Supreme Court had given permission to St. Stephen's for admitting students through interview process, he said.

The varsity official, however, said the Delhi University (DU) is firm on its decision.

The development comes days after the university warned the St. Stephen's College that it will declare "null and void" all admissions made by it in violation of the Central Universities Entrance Test (CUET) guidelines after the college released a prospectus announcing that it will admit students for undergraduate courses while sticking to its stated 85:15 weightage formula.

The prospectus for the undergraduate courses 2022-23 stated, "St Stephen's College will adopt the CUET as the eligibility criteria with 85 per cent weightage for CUET and the college's interview for shortlisted candidates with a weightage of 15 per cent."

The university asked the college to withdraw the prospectus containing an "incongruent policy immediately".

In a letter to St Stephen's principal John Varghese, varsity's registrar Vikas Gupta had said any admission done in violation of the admission norms will not be recognised and treated as annulled for all purposes.

The University Grants Commission has decided to hold a Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for admission to all central universities for academic session 2022-23.

The St. Stephen's College, asserting its minority institution character, has said it will accord 85 per cent weightage to the CUET score and 15 per cent to physical interview for all categories of candidates, a stand strongly opposed by DU, which wants interviews to be conducted only for the reserved category students.

On May 9, DU wrote to St Stephen's College, asking it to conduct admissions to the unreserved seats solely on the basis of CUET scores, senior officials said.

However, in an admission notice posted on its website last month, St Stephen's College said it will give 85 per cent weightage to CUET scores and 15 per cent to interviews for all categories of students. The college also said that it reserves the right to proceed with admissions in accordance with its own admission policy guaranteed to it as a minority institution.