Delhi High Court bars six students provisionally admitted to St Stephen’s College from attending classes
He Delhi The High Court on Thursday restrained six students, who were granted provisional admission in St. Stephen’s College on the basis of DU seat allotment, from attending classes till further orders. A bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela was hearing an appeal filed by the college challenging the single-judge interim order directing that the six students be granted provisional admission in the college as per the allotment made by the college.
The division bench said that while the August 23 order of the single judge provides for provisional admission to be granted to these students, it was of the view that the order practically granted the relief sought by them in the main petition.
“Till further orders, respondents 1 to 6 (students) shall be free to seek admission in the universities of their second preference. The university shall facilitate their admission in the universities of their second preference.
“Until further orders, respondents 1 to 6 will not attend their classes at the school (St. Stephen’s),” it said.
The court also moved up the hearing date from September 11 to September 5 in the petition pending before the sole judge.
The court also sanctioned the university for assigning more students to the university than the authorized number.
“The university must understand that it is playing with the students’ careers. This is not a game of chess that it is accepting. It is a very serious matter,” said the magistrate of the division.
He added, “Don’t do this to students, this will affect their careers. Tell this to the university, this is not good. We hope common sense will prevail.” The university, in its appeal, alleged that there was a violation of the principles of natural justice in denying it a fair opportunity to be heard by the single judge.
“Had the appellant university been given the opportunity to prepare all relevant data and calculations, there would have been no need to pass any orders against it as the allocation of students was manifestly in excess of the capacity of the university and was outside the scope of admitting an excess of 5 per cent of the sanctioned seats between the university and the college,” it said.
The appeal stated that the single judge’s order ordering provisional admission of the students violated the university’s right to select students for admission, as part of its fundamental right under Article 30 to establish and manage educational institutions for minorities.
The university blamed DU for allocating students to its courses beyond the permitted intake or authorized seats and added that the university had miscalculated the number of seats available.
DU’s counsel said that he had not been provided with an advance copy of the petition and requested some time to obtain instructions.
However, he said the university’s allocation of students was within the 5 percent allocation limit. The lawyer for the six students opposed the university’s appeal and argued that it was not admissible.
He said that the students would not be admitted to their second-choice universities as they have been allotted places at their first-choice university, i.e. St. Stephen’s College.
The court said this showed that the students did not consider their admission as provisional but definitive.
“The Supreme Court, in a large number of judgments, has held that courts must be cautious while ordering admission of students under interim orders and that too without giving sufficient notice to the other party,” the court said.
The sole judge had granted relief to the six students while pointing out that there was no fault of these students who had successfully passed the CUET exam and other formalities and despite being deserving, they were kept in suspense regarding the fate of their admission.
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