St Stephen's Insists on Interview, but DU Says Such Admissions Will Be 'Null'

The Registrar had earlier told the college that it could conduct interviews only for minority candidates.

St Stephen's College, in a prospectus on its website, said it would give 15 percent weightage to interviews in its admission process. In retaliation, the Delhi University wrote to the principal of college, asking him to 'withdraw' the prospectus, adding that any admission made in violation of the DU's rules would be considered "null and void."

This comes amid an ongoing tussle between the university and the college over the admission process. In March, the University Grants Commission (UGC) made the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) mandatory for all those applying to central universities.

However, St Stephen's College held its ground saying that it would continue to conduct entrance exams with weightage to interviews.

While the rest of the DU would conduct admissions taking board marks into account, the college would conduct admissions on the basis of Class 12 marks and a written test, in addition to an interview, to the ratio 85:15.

After the CUET was made mandatory, the college wrote to the university asking if it could give an 85 percent weightage to the CUET and 15 percent weightage to interviews. However, the registrar had earlier responded to this by saying that the institute could conduct admissions with the said ratio only for its minority seats, while its general seats could be filled only via the CUET.

Delhi University's Stand

After the prospectus was brought to his notice, Vikas Gupta, DU Registrar, said that the university had communicated the approved admission policy for undergraduate admissions to the college earlier.

According to The Indian Express, the registrar said on Tuesday that the college must withdraw its prospectus and issue a public notice stating clearly that the "approved admission policies of the university shall be applicable for admissions into various courses to be offered by the St Stephen's College for undergraduate admissions for the coming academic session."

"You may note, any admission done in violation of the admission norms and policies of the university shall not be recognized by the university and will be treated as null and void for all purposes."

Vikas Gupta, DU Registrar

(With inputs from The Indian Express.)