Delhi’s St Stephen’s to give 15% weightage to interviews of Christian candidates

Delhi University’s St Stephen’s College has said that it will hold interviews for Christian minority students and assign 85% weightage to Common University Entrance Test (CUET) score and 15% to the interview during admissions to the college, according to the prospectus uploaded on the college website on Wednesday.

“The Christian minority applicant must register on the St Stephen’s college’s admissions portal as and when the registration form is ready,” the prospectus says. It adds that the college will adopt the CUET score as the sole eligibility criterion for general candidates.

This development coincides with the college’s fresh plea filed in the Delhi high court in April against a February notification by DU saying that all admissions have to be done solely on the basis of CUET score for the academic year 2023.

The high court on Wednesday deferred the hearing on college’s petition till August 23, observing that a related matter is pending before the Supreme Court. The Delhi high court had ruled in September last year that St Stephen’s will have to follow the DU criteria for admissions, but pointed out that DU cannot insist on a single merit list for both Christian minority aspirants and non-minority students.

Stephen’s had challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court, but the top court in October 2022 refused to grant any interim relief to the institution. The matter is pending adjudication.

In addition to the Stephen’s plea, the high court is also hearing a similar petition by the Jesus and Mary College, another Christian minority institution affiliated to DU, and a complaint against St Stephen’s additional interviews for minority students (in addition to CUET) by a woman, Sharon Ann George. A high court bench of chief justice Satish Chandra Sharma and justice Subramonium Prasad will hear the pleas together on August 23.

DU registrar Vikas Gupta on Wednesday reiterated the DU admission rules. “According to the university’s eligibility criteria for undergraduate admission, all admissions are to be conducted solely based on CUET scores. This rule applies to all colleges, including minority institutions,” said Gupta.

St Stephen’s principal, John Varghese, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

50% seats in various courses offered by minority colleges are reserved for students from specific minority communities. St Stephen’s College and Jesus and Mary College are two Christian minority institutions under Delhi University, and Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College of Commerce, Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College, and Mata Sundri College for Women are recognised as Sikh minority colleges.

With inputs from Richa Banka