Tag: Delhi University

Delhi: JNU VC made appointments ‘without authority’.

HC restrains chairpersons from taking major decisions.


The division bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdher and Justice Talwant Singh said that the power to appoint chairpersons is expressly conferred upon the executive council and not the vice-chancellor. Rejecting the varsity’s argument that the VC had exercised the powers under Statue 4(5) of the Statute of the university, the court said that the VC can exercise such powers only when immediate action is required “on account of emergent situation”, which then is reported to the concerned authority for obtaining its approval.

Observing that Sood had objected to the agenda for the 296th meeting of the executive council and informed the latter that the appointments made by the VC are flawed, the court said therefore prima facie the authorities were put to notice that the course on which they were proceeding was perhaps not the correct one.


“Despite this, respondent no.2 (VC), it appears, went on to appoint the Chairpersons of the concerned Centres/Special Centres,” reads the order.

The division bench also noted a submission made by Sood’s counsel Abhik Chimni that after a single bench of the high court refused to stay the nine appointments made by the VC, he went ahead with the appointment of another person as chairperson of Centre of Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Latin American Studies/School of Language, Literature & Cultural Studies on October 08, again exercising the emergency powers vested in him.

Observing that the vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is not vested with the power to appoint chairpersons of centres, the Delhi High Court has restrained the nine chairpersons appointed by Prof M Jagadesh Kumar from taking any major decisions, including those relating to the convening of selection committees or carrying out selections concerning the centres or special centres.

The division bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdher and Justice Talwant Singh said that the power to appoint chairpersons is expressly conferred upon the executive council and not the VC.


“Therefore, prima facie, respondent no.2 could not have exercised the power to appoint Chairpersons of Centres/Special Centres,” said the court, adding that the appointments made by the VC prima facie are without authority.

The court was hearing a matter relating to the appointment of professors as chairpersons of the centres or special centres by the VC. Professor Atul Sood has approached the court with a petition challenging the approval granted by the executive council to the nine appointments made by the VC. It has been argued before the court that the appointments cannot emanate from the VC.

Written by: Ananya Kaushal

Delhi University Cut-Offs Released

A new academic year brings with it a new batch of anxious faces, eagerly looking at the DU cut-offs, hoping they get in. Lakhs of students apply to the University of Delhi annually while only a few make it through. This year too over 4 lakh applications were recorded, the highest being from Delhi, followed by Uttar Pradesh. The lowest number of applications were received from West Bengal. All these candidates are vying for a mere 70,000 seats.

Owing to the deadly second wave of the coronavirus, the exams pan India were cancelled. The different education boards came up with fair scoring criteria for their students. Everyone witnessed remarkable inflation in their marks after the results were declared, with more than  70,000 CBSE students scoring above 95%.

This posed a massive dilemma for the college principals, some of them even suggesting a centralised entrance exam for the batch of 2021. But due to time and procedural constraints, the same wasn’t feasible to conduct. Finally, the University decided to follow the merit basis for admission to the undergraduate programs.

Speculations were rife about the cut-offs being astronomically high for this academic year which, unfortunately, turned out to be true.

After a long and tiring wait, the first cut off list was released yesterday.

In an unprecedented development,  at least 6 colleges have released 100% cut-offs in 10 courses which have left the students all over India in shock.

Ramjas college and Hindu college demanded a whopping 100% for Political Science Hons. and Computer Science Hons. The other north campus colleges have followed the same trend. SRCC set the bar at 100% too for B.Com Hons. 13 out of 20 courses in Hansraj college are only available to students who have scored above 99%. The score required for English Hons. has increased by a percent to settle at 99% in most colleges. At Vivekananda College, History Hons requires 97%, a sharp jump from the previous year’s 85%.

Experts are now questioning the evaluation of the board results. A teacher at SRCC clarified that the 100% cut off was based on the applicant data provided to them which had almost 450 students who scored a perfect 100 in the best of four aggregate. It is indeed quite baffling how so many students managed to procure such excessive marks. Fingers would be pointed at various school managements who might have graciously rewarded marks to their pupils.

The number of 100 scorers at DU has increased to almost 10,000 from 5,500 last year. Understandably, the cut-off can’t be kept low.

The cut off list has left many students distraught, a number of them are looking at their DU dreams shattering. Aspirants who are just at the 90% margin are worried about their college prospects now, with many of them looking to seek admission in other universities. The ones who scored below 90% have very bleak chances of getting in, seeing the current trend. This is a leading cause of stress as well as anxiety for both parents and students as their future is now enveloped in a shadow of uncertainty.

The education system has been heavily criticised as there is only space for exceptional scorers in universities now. The entire focus has now shifted to performance in exams instead of the holistic development of children. The sky is the only limit now when it comes to college cut-offs.