In a significant ruling on Monday, the Delhi High Court authorized the admission of 18 Christian students to St Stephen’s College, Delhi University (DU). The decision comes after a legal plea from St Stephen’s College, urging DU to confirm and finalize the admission list of all Christian candidates recommended by the college.
The college had previously requested the university to activate the fee-payment portal for 19 students under the Christian quota. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, presiding over the case, expressed satisfaction that 18 of these students met the merit criteria required for admission. The court noted that the university had already acknowledged that 14 out of the 19 candidates were eligible for the concerned BA program.
Justice Sharma emphasized that the legal status of the students, whether part of a minority or not, holds no weight in this context, stating, “They are just students seeking a future in an educational institute and proud citizens of this country.” The judgment highlighted the court’s view that the educational aspirations of students should transcend minority and majority distinctions.
This ruling resolved the contention between St Stephen’s College and DU, which had initially objected to the admissions, arguing that the college had allocated seats outside the established seat matrix based on arbitrary decisions. However, the college maintained that these admissions were within the sanctioned intake limits and did not exceed the permissible quota.
