Following the College of Art (CoA) affiliation row, 11 members of Delhi University’s (DU) Academics for Action and Development have urged Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh to secure the "best legal representation" for the varsity in the matter. The fate of CoA is uncertain as DU has claimed that it has not de-affiliated it, even as Ambedkar University (AU) announced the admission process on May 23 in a meeting with Delhi Government officials.
In a letter to DU V-C, the 11 members said that the CoA is facing a "harsh situation of losing its identity and existence." In the last hearing in Delhi High Court on May 17, due to poor representation on behalf of the DU, the order went in favour of AU.
“The university has been asked to conduct admission to CoA as part of AU. We have asked the V-C for proper representation," said Seema Das, a member of the DU's Executive Council and one of the authors of the letter.
In the letter to Singh, the teachers noted that the interim order "went in favour of AU" as far as the admission for the current session is concerned."The same order has given two weeks to DU for filing an appeal and nowhere does it endorse the merger of CoA with Dr BR Ambedkar University," the letter pointed out.
The letter comes a day after AU, which is funded by the Delhi Government, announced that a committee has been constituted to ensure a "smooth" process for admission in various courses of College of Art for the academic year 2022-23.
The teachers have requested Singh to seek a stay of the order directing the admission process under AU as well as for the appointment of the Dean. In April, the DU had asked the CoA to start its admission process and had informed the institute that it would not be de-affiliated from the university.
The Office of the Lieutenant-Governor had earlier given in-principle approval to the merger of CoA with AU, subject to its de-affiliation from the DU.
However, the DU’s Executive Council, its highest decision-making body, refused to de-affiliate the college. In March last year, the Delhi Government announced that the CoA would be affiliated with AU, as the college was facing various problems.
