Delhi HC seeks response of DU, St Stephen's on plea opposing inclusion of Church representative in admission of Christian students

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought the response of the Delhi University (DU) and St Stephen’s college on a plea opposing the inclusion of a member from the institute’s supreme council in the interview panel for admission of Christian students. [caption id=“attachment_5772531” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of the Delhi High Court. PTI[/caption] A bench of chief justice DN Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar issued notice to the DU, the college, it’s Supreme Council, it’s Principal and the University Grants Commission seeking their stand by 16 October on the petition by three professors of the institute. The petition was filed in appeal against the 11 July order of a single judge who dismissed the professors’ plea challenging inclusion of the supreme council member in the interview panel. The supreme council is higher in authority than the governing body of the college and comprises of members from the Church of North India and also those nominated by it. The petitioners, NP Ashley, Abhishek Singh, and Nandita Narain, who are members of the college’s governing body were opposed to the alleged “interference” of the church in the admission process, claiming it was against the norms of the institute. According to their petition before the single judge, the supreme council in a meeting held on 12 March had decided to have an additional Christian member, nominated by it or the governing body, to be part of the interview panel with respect to admission of Christian students in all subjects.