St Stephen's vs DU: Delhi HC Allows 7 Students To Attend Classes At College | What's The Dispute About

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday permitted seven students, who approached the court seeking admission in St. Stephen’s College on the basis of the seats allocated by the Delhi University, to attend classes in the college.

The seven students earlier sought admission under Delhi University's "single girl child quota" but faced delays as their seats were not finalized on time. Although the university supported their petitions, the college opposed them.

Delhi HC Judgement

A bench led by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela instructed a university to halt further seat allocations. This order followed an appeal challenging a previous single-judge decision that granted admission to seven students based on those allocations.

The court has issued a notice for the university and the students to respond within four weeks and scheduled the next hearing for January 28 of the following year.

The bench reportedly said, “The seven students who had approached the court are permitted to attend the classes till further orders. However, it is directed that the university shall not make any further allocation."

What Did Single Judge Previously Order?

A single judge granted relief to seven students on September 6 by stating they were not at fault but faced undue hardship due to an ongoing dispute between the institution and the university.

The judge also highlighted that the college's indecision had left the students uncertain and unable to take any further action.

According to PTI, the single judge said, "On the one hand, the petitioners faced the challenge of uncertainty over securing admission to their preferred college, St Stephen's, and on the other hand, they were also deprived of the opportunity to select and opt for their second choice college."

"The prolonged 'under-process' status effectively blocked their participation in subsequent allocation rounds, causing them to miss out on other potential options for securing a seat," they added.

7 Students Of St. Stephen's College & 'Single Girl Child Quota' | What's The Dispute About

The seven students requested the college to allocate them seats for courses they qualified for, specifically under the "single girl child quota" set by Delhi University (DU).

The university's admission bulletin reserves one seat per program in each college for this quota.

Despite the university assigning seats to the students for BA Economics (Honours) and BA courses, the college did not finalize their admissions on time. While the university supported the students' petitions, the college opposed them.

The college opposed the DU's stand that it was obliged to admit all candidates who were allotted seats through the university's Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS). The college said it can admit students only within the sanctioned limit.

The single judge, in the verdict, also noted that the seat matrix for the current academic session was prepared and forwarded by the college itself to the DU.

It said the seat matrix offered by the college indicated that it had offered 13 different BA programmes, each with its own specific allocation of seats for various categories of students.