The Supreme Court has provided clarification that the Delhi High Court is free to proceed with the hearing of a writ petition filed by St. Stephen's College challenging a 2023 notification issued by the University of Delhi (DU). The DU notification mandates that all categories of students, including those from minority communities, will be admitted to undergraduate and post-graduate courses based solely on the marks obtained in the Common University Entrance Test (CUET). The bench, consisting of Justices BR Gavai and JB Pardiwala, was considering an appeal filed by St. Stephen's College against a Delhi High Court order that restrained the college from conducting interviews for non-Christian applicants in addition to considering their CUET scores.
Senior Advocate A Mariarputham, representing the college, informed the bench that the high court had deferred the hearing of a writ petition challenging the DU notification due to the pendency of the special leave petition before the Supreme Court. The college sought clarification that the high court could proceed to hear the matter specifically related to admissions from the minority category. The Delhi High Court had previously restrained St. Stephen's College from conducting interviews for non-minority students but allowed interviews for minority students based on an 85:15 formula.
The Supreme Court bench clarified that the high court can proceed with the hearing, emphasizing that the matter pertains to admissions for the current academic year and should be considered with requisite urgency.
The controversy stems from the admission policy introduced by the University of Delhi in April 2022, which mandated CUET scores as the sole eligibility criterion for admissions to colleges under DU. St. Stephen's College, a Christian minority institution, initially insisted on following an 85:15 formula for non-Christian applicants, giving 85% weightage to CUET scores and 15% weightage to its own interview process. The college argued that as a minority institution, it had the autonomy to make decisions regarding admissions. However, the university maintained that CUET scores should be the sole criterion for admissions.
The matter reached the Delhi High Court, which upheld the university's notification for admissions to general category seats but directed St. Stephen's College to follow the university's admission policy for non-minority students. The high court ruled that interviews could be conducted by the college only for minority students and that interviews should not be mandatory for non-minority students. St. Stephen's College appealed this decision to the Supreme Court, which refused to stay the high court's order.
The recent DU notification has further heightened the dispute, as it mandates that even minority quota seats must be filled based on CUET scores without interviews. St. Stephen's College has challenged this notification in a writ petition before the Delhi High Court, asserting that the high court's previous order only applied to the previous academic year and should not be extended to the current academic year.
The Supreme Court's clarification allows the Delhi High Court to proceed with the hearing of St. Stephen's College's petition challenging the DU notification specifically related to admissions under the minority quota. The resolution of this case will have significant implications for admission policies in minority institutions and the weightage given to CUET scores in the overall admission process.
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