HC grants admission to six students in St Stephen’s amid seat matrix dispute

The six petitioners finally breathed a sigh of relief on Friday as the Delhi High Court granted them admission to St Stephen’s College, ending weeks of uncertainty caused by a dispute between the college and Delhi University (DU) over seat allocation. The students, who had been allotted seats by DU, but were denied admission by the college, had approached the court seeking justice.

In its ruling, the court sympathised with the students’ predicament. “The petitioners have faced undue hardship, losing the opportunity to apply elsewhere while being caught in a dispute they were not responsible for. This issue is decided in their favour,” the court remarked.

The dispute centred around St Stephen’s College’s challenge to DU’s Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS). The court, however, dismissed the college’s argument, stating, “St Stephen’s has not raised any prior challenge to the CSAS, which is binding on all DU-affiliated colleges.”

Additionally, the court ruled that any grievances regarding seat allocation must be addressed before the admission process begins. “Colleges should file grievances three months before the start of admissions, and these must be resolved within two months,” the court ordered.

The court also declined to address the constitutionality of DU’s ‘single girl child quota’, an issue raised by the college. “The focus of this case is the denial of admission, not the quota’s constitutionality,” the court clarified.

Earlier, the High Court had granted provisional admission to the students, noting that they had cleared all required exams and formalities, but were unfairly kept in limbo by the ongoing dispute. However, the college had later moved the court again against these admissions.