New Delhi: The prestigious St Stephen’s college, which is already battling a controversy over alleged sexual assault by a professor, is now in the news for another wrong reason.
The Delhi University college has denied a character certificate to Devansh Mehta who had earlier clashed with principal Valson Thampu over the publication of a college magazine in April.
He says that when he collected his provisional certificate, he noticed that reference to his character certificate was blank. The character certification is essential for his admission to other universities.
The administration of the Delhi University-affiliated college, however, chose to remain mum on the matter.
"The provisional certificate issued to me doesn't have a character certification which is there in the ones issued to all other students. Despite the (e-zine) matter being in court, the discrepancy in my certificate highlights the vindictiveness of the college authorities," Mehta alleged.
Mehta, a final year philosophy student of the college, was suspended by principal Valson Thampu in April this year "on disciplinary grounds" after he went ahead with publication of an e-zine without taking clearance from him.
The student along with three others had started 'St Stephen's Weekly' which went live on March 7 and registered over 2,000 hits on an interview of Thampu, who soon ordered a ban on it for not taking his clearance on the content.
Mehta had moved court against the principal which had stayed the suspension order. The court had also asked Thampu and the student to resolve the matter amicably till September. According to Mehta, the certificate testifying his character, which is a prerequisite for his admission to Columbia University, has not been issued.
Mehta said he has approached the college authorities expressing his disappointment and requested issuance of a fresh certificate. "A personal disagreement with the Principal is not evidence of a bad character and I am most upset that it has been treated as such. It is quite disconcerting that a premier institution can intentionally indulge in vindictive and malicious acts designed to hurt a students future prospects," he said in a letter to Thampu.
"I request you to give directions to create a new provisional certificate which contains a reference to my character within the next 2-3 days as I need to send it to Columbia University. I would also like to have an answer as to why due procedure was not followed and the reason for deviation from the standard format of the provisional certificate," he added.
When contacted, Samuel Shekhar, administration assistant at St Stephen's who issued the provisional certificates, said that he will communicate his response to the principal "if asked for clarification". Meanwhile, Thampu, who is not in Delhi, said over the phone that he is not updated on the matter.
With inputs from PTI
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