DU firm on nullifying St Stephens College admission violating CUET guidelines

NEW DELHI: With the St. Stephen's College refusing to do away with the interview process for admissions, the Delhi University (DU) on Friday said it is "firm" on its decision to declare "null and void" all admissions made by the college in violation of the Central Universities Entrance Test (CUET) guidelines.

The college, asserting its minority institution character, has said it will accord 85 percent weightage to the CUET score and 15 percent to physical interviews for all categories of candidates, a stand strongly opposed by DU, which wants interviews to be conducted only for the reserved category students. On Thursday, St Stephen's College principal John Varghese had written to DU, conveying that the college will retain its "tried and trusted" interview process during admission and asked the university to "avoid creating an unpleasant situation" for students seeking admission to the college.

However, DU Registrar Vikas Gupta said the college will have to follow the admission guidelines issued by the university. "We will again convey to them that they will have to follow the admission guidelines issued by Delhi University. They will have to conduct admission to unreserved seats solely based on CUET scores. We are firm on our decision," DU Registrar Vikas Gupta told PTI. He questioned the need for a separate mechanism for admission when the CUET is already in place.

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In his letter to Gupta, the St. Stephen's principal had pointed out that to suddenly forget the process that the college has followed and which the university has approved for the last four decades and more is "strange indeed". "The decision taken by the college to retain its stellar, tried and trusted interview process and other related steps in the admission process shall continue. All candidates who apply to the college shall face the same admission procedures, without discrimination," Varghese said.

The university and the college are at loggerheads over the admission process, with both sides refusing to back down. On May 9, the university had written to the college, asking it to conduct admissions to the unreserved seats solely based on CUET scores. However, in an admission notice posted on its website last month, the college said it would give 85 percent weightage to CUET scores and 15 percent to interviews for all categories of students. The college also said that it reserves the right to proceed with admissions in accordance with its own admission policy guaranteed to it as a minority institution.

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