NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday underscored the importance of complying with its directive to permit a minority category student to attend classes at St Stephen’s College amid an ongoing seat allocation dispute with the DU.
The court stressed that its orders must be respected until any recall is formally granted. The bench, consisting of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, expressed concerns over what it viewed as “willful non-compliance” by DU.
The court’s remarks came in response to a contempt plea filed against DU officials for allegedly disregarding the court’s October 28 directive, which allowed the student to attend classes until further orders.
DU’s counsel assured the bench that the university would honor the ruling, although this compliance would be done without waiving the rights to contest the order. The seat allocation conflict stems from an earlier decision by a single judge, which ruled that 18 out of 19 minority-category students met the admission criteria for St Stephen’s College, leaving one seat open. The student in question filed an appeal for that vacant seat after another candidate declined it, seeking admission into the Bachelor of Arts program.
DU, however, argued against the college’s method of seat allocation, alleging that St Stephen’s was not following the established protocol for seat allocation. The college countered, maintaining that their actions were within the permissible intake limit and did not breach any regulations.