St Stephen's College on Wednesday contended before the Delhi High Court that admitting a student under ‘single girl child quota', fixed by the Delhi University (DU), is violative of the right to equality before law. The counsel for the college argued that the quota for girl child is ultra vires Article 14, 15(3) and 15(5) and 30 of the Constitution and allocation of seats under this quota goes against these four articles. The high court asked if the college raised this objection anywhere before. “Did you raise this objection anywhere earlier at any stage? Did you challenge this policy ever or write to them or filed any case ever?†asked Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma.
To this, senior advocate Romy Chacko said, “This year they agreed that they will only allocate 5 per cent excess of the seats and will allocate one candidate for each program. But today we are actually forced to challenge it on the ground that instead of one candidate they are actually allocating 13 candidates.â€
“We would have no problem if we were asked to admit one girl child. However, today DU argued that if BA (prog) has 13 combinations, 13 girl child students would have to be admitted,†he said, adding the state cannot deny to any person equality before law. The submission was opposed by the counsel for petitioner students and the Delhi University who said this objection was never raised before.
“Why did the college not challenge the varsity's bulletin of information for admission if they are aggrieved by this provision?†said the counsel for DU. The judge orally observed, “for this I think you (college) will have to challenge it separatelyâ€.
