Stephen’s College, DU spar over appointment of principal

John Varghese has ‘every legal right’ to continue as principal: College
St Stephens college
St Stephens college

NEW DELHI: Delhi University has directed the governing body of St. Stephen’s College to follow UGC regulations for the appointment of principal “in true spirit”, days after it termed Professor John Varghese’s re-appointment to the post “illegal”. On March 1, 2016, Varghese was chosen to lead St. Stephen College for a period of five year on a grant by the college’s supreme council.

On Friday, the university has constrained Prof John Varghese to be recognized as the principal of the college along with calling it as “null and void” before, ever since his five-year term finished. With proper backing of argument, mentioning several clauses of the UGC, St. Stephen’s College reacted to the letter of the University of Delhi by informing that Varghese has “every legal right” to continue as the principal.

“It is obligatory on the part of the college to follow the provisions of the UGC regulations in the matter of reappointment of the principal in letter and spirit. Not following the said provisions amounts to an illegal and non-statutory continuation of Professor John Varghese as Principal of St. Stephen’s College,” the university said.

The DU has said it is “firm” on its decision to declare “null and void” all admissions made by the college in violation of the CUET guidelines. The university and Varghese have been at loggerheads over the admission policy for several months. Several letters were exchanged in the past few months over their disagreement.

The college had earlier said it will accord 85 per cent weightage to the Common University Entrance Test score (CUET) and 15 per cent to physical interviews for all categories of candidates. The Delhi High Court recently directed St Stephen’s College to follow the admission policy formulated by Delhi University and accord 100 per cent weightage to the CUET 2022 score while granting admission to non-minority students in its undergraduate courses.

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