NEW DELHI: St Stephen’s College shot a “formal warning” to its governing body members, who had condemned principal John Varghese’s decision to include a member of the Supreme Council in the interview panel for selection of students.
In a statement, Nandita Narain, N P Ashley and Abhishek Singh had asserted that the inclusion of a member of the Supreme Council was a ‘violation’ of the college constitution. “Never in the history of the college has a non-academic person from outside the college faculty been a member of the admission process,” it said.
On Tuesday, Varghese in a letter said the trio had issued “false and irresponsible” comments to the media concerning the revised admission guidelines passed by the college’s Supreme Council.
“I wish to bring to your notice that what you falsely claimed as the decision of the principal is, in fact, the decision of the Supreme Council which has the sole power to decide on the admission policy as the college is a Christian minority institution,” Varghese said in the letter.
The Supreme Council is a subset of six members of the Governing Body, who are all members of the Church of North India.
The guidelines were duly reported in the governing body on March 14, 2019 in the presence of the teachers’ representatives, read the missive.
The press release by the three governing body members was “complete concoction, factually and legally incorrect”, it said.
“You may take this letter as a formal warning issued to you. You are advised not to repeat such irresponsible and unbecoming behaviour in future failing which the college will be forced to take appropriate action against you.”
The letter accused the teachers of falsely claiming that the decision was made by the principal. The decision was of the Supreme Council, “which has the sole power to decide on the admission policy as the College is a Christian minority institution”, it said.