Jesus and Mary College has filed a petition in the Delhi High Court challenging a notification issued by Delhi University. The college contests the requirement of giving 100% weightage to the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) scores for admissions under the minority quota. The college is seeking a declaration that this requirement is unconstitutional.The petition, presented by advocate Romy Chacko, was brought before a division bench consisting of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad on Tuesday. The bench issued notices to the respondents, namely Delhi University (DU) and the University Grants Commission (UGC), and scheduled the hearing for May 24. The plea filed by Jesus and Mary College was listed together with a similar plea filed by St. Stephens College on a related matter.The plea requested the nullification of a decision made on December 8, 2022, by the executive council of Delhi University (DU). According to this decision, starting from the academic year 2023, the admission of undergraduate and postgraduate students under the minority quota would solely depend on their CUET score. The petitioner sought to challenge this decision through their plea.Image: yahooFurthermore, the plea also requested a declaration stating that Delhi Universitys decision to enforce 100% weightage for CUET scores as a requirement for admission under the minority quota is ultra vires, meaning it goes beyond the powers granted by Article 30 of the Constitution, and therefore, is unconstitutional.Article 30 of the Constitution guarantees the right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutionsThe plea refers to a decision made by the High Court in September 2022, which stated that although St. Stephens College has the authority to conduct interviews alongside the CUET for the admission of minority community students it cannot enforce a policy that mandates non-minority students to undergo an interview as well.Jesus and Mary College (JMC) has stated that the High Court (HC) had affirmed the right of St. Stephens College to conduct interviews for Christian students as part of the final selection process, with a weightage of 15% marks assigned to the interview.Subsequently, St. Stephens College filed a plea before the Supreme Court challenging the HCs judgement regarding the affirmation of Delhi Universitys (DU) communications. These communications directed the college to admit candidates in the general category solely based on their CUET scores.The plea highlighted that while the case is still pending in the Supreme Court, DUs executive council issued the notification regarding the same matter in December 2022.
