Delhi HC Allows 15% Christians Minority in St Stephen’s College

The Delhi High Court has recently granted St. Stephen’s College permission to allocate 85% weightage to the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) and 15% weightage to interviews for admissions under the Christian minority quota.

However, for admissions in the unreserved category, the College will consider only CUET scores, with 100% weightage.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad issued this order while hearing a plea filed by St. Stephen’s College. The College challenged against the decision of the Executive Council of Delhi University (DU) and a notification dated December 30, 2022, which mandated 100% weightage for CUET scores for minority quota admissions.

It was brought to the Court’s attention that DU’s notification violated the High Court’s order from September 12, 2022. In that ruling, the High Court stated that the College cannot consider interviews for admissions in non-reserved categories. However, interviews were allowed for students falling under reserved categories.

This matter was subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court, and the case is still pending adjudication.

After careful consideration, the Bench observed that its September 2022 decision recognized the right of minority institutions to determine what is best for their community. Thus, conducting interviews could not be deemed contrary to the interests of the minority institution.

The bench further opined that allowing St. Stephen’s College to admit students from the minority community by considering 85% weightage for CUET scores and 15% weightage for interviews would serve the community’s best interests.

The Court emphasized that the UGC communication appeared to conflict with St. Stephen’s College’s rights under Article 30(1) of the Indian Constitution and the High Court’s decision. It pointed out that the impugned notification lacked reasoning and seemed to indicate non-application of mind by the respondents in making the decision.

Therefore, as an interim measure, the division bench directed the policy framed by it to be followed for the Academic Year 2023-24. Accordingly, St. Stephen’s College will consider CUET scores with 85% weightage and interviews with 15% weightage for admissions.