The Delhi High Court on Monday held the University of Delhi guilty of “willful disobedience” in a contempt petition filed by St Stephen’s College for not following the orders issued by the court. It also directed the registrar and admissions officer of DU to appear before the court to show cause why they should not be punished.
In an order dated April 22, 2024, a single-judge bench directed that DU will ensure that the allotment/allocation of seats for undergraduates in St Stephen’s College is “inequitable”. St Stephen’s College moved the high court at that time with a contempt petition, saying that “despite the directions contained in the judgment dated 22.04.2024, the allotment of seats was not done properly even for the academic year 2024-25.
It pointed out that “DU has again allotted very low seats” in St Stephen’s College compared to other colleges. The college submitted before the court that the list of students belonging to the minority Christian community, which was forwarded to DU, “was not scrutinized and was not admitted to various PG courses”.
The bench of Justice Dharmesh Sharma, while holding DU guilty of willful disobedience, wrote, “…undoubtedly, this court is of the view that the concerned officials of the respondent DU while conniving with the management of the petitioner college, are playing almost with the lives of the students, which is an unacceptable act or omission or which is sustainable in law.”
“The respondents fail miserably to state the reasons as to what steps they have taken so far to facilitate the admission of selected students by the applicant college for admission to PG courses. At the cost of repetition, excessive delay on the part of the respondents will cause irreparable harm to the selected students. It is disappointing to see respected academics showing insensitivity in this way,” said the high court.
Finding DU guilty of “willful disobedience in nature by willfully stopping the implementation of the directives of this court”, the court ordered the registrar and the admissions officer of DU to appear before the court, via video conference at 2.30 pm on October 15 “and show cause why they should not be punished in accordance with the law” .
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