Delhi High Court permits seven students to attend classes at St Stephen's College

New Delhi: 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.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, however, directed the varsity not to make any further allocation of seats.

The division bench issued notice and sought response of the university and seven students on an appeal by the college challenging a single-judge’s order which has granted admission to these candidates on the basis of the seats allocated by the varsity.

The court asked them to file the reply within four weeks and listed the matter for further hearing on January 28 next year.

“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,” the bench said.

On September 6, the single judge had granted the relief to the seven students, saying the candidates were not at fault but had to face undue hardship due to an ongoing dispute between the institution and the university.

It said the indecision on the part of the college had left the petitioners in a state of uncertainty, preventing them from taking any further action at that stage.

"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," the single judge had said.

The seven students had sought a direction to the college to provide them seats for the courses for which they have qualified.

They had sought admission under the "single girl child quota" fixed by the DU.

According to the university's bulletin for admission information, one seat in each programme in every college is reserved under the "supernumerary quota for a single girl child".

The petitioners had submitted that despite being allotted seats by the university in the college for the BA Economics (Honours) and BA programme courses, their admissions were not completed within the stipulated time.

While the university had supported the petitions, they were opposed by the college.

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, 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 clearly indicates that it had offered 13 different BA programmes, each with its own specific allocation of seats for various categories of students.