The Delhi High Court on Wednesday, 1 June, issued a notice on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which had challenged the decision of St Stephen's College to conduct an interview round during admissions to the unreserved category, despite a warning issued by the Delhi University (DU).
A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Sachin Datta issued the notice to the college pertaining to the PIL filed by a student named Konika Poddar, as per ANI.
The court directed St Stephen's College, DU and the University Grants Commission (UGC) to submit their responses in four weeks.
The matter was also listed for hearing on 6 July.
What Does the Plea Say?
The plea stated that conducting interviews when the awarding of marks was left to the subjective satisfaction of the selection committee may lead to discrimination and manipulation.
The admission process in DU's undergraduate courses is usually based on the immediate marks of a candidate. In the last few years, the cut-off marks required for admissions in some of the most prestigious colleges under DU had been 100 percent.
A committee created by DU had said recently that admissions must be conducted on the basis of a Common University Entrance Test (CUET).
The PIL said that the university's policy clearly stated that admissions for general category seats in minority colleges like St Stephen's would be conducted on the basis of a candidate's CUET marks. On the other hand, for admissions in the reserved category, minority colleges would be permitted to give 15 percent weightage to the interview, while 85 percent weightage would be given to CUET marks.
(With inputs from ANI.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)