Thampu: Statute change cleared

In a move that affect its affiliation with the Delhi University, St. Stephen’s College has approved the amendments to the institution’s 102-year-old constitution despite a truncated governing body (GB) meeting with only 10 out of 18 members present.

The draft proposing the amendments was placed before the body on Monday which deliberated on it during an eight-hour long meeting which was boycotted by four teacher representatives, two DU representatives, Principal’s nominee Justice Manmohan Sarin and the recording secretary Sanjeev Garewal who resigned from the post in protest against the amendment. According to the constitution, no amendment can be passed without at least two-thirds of the members being present, and a two-thirds majority being obtained. The meeting still proceeded despite being short of “quorum”.

While the college principal Valson Thampu and the present members on Monday remained tight-lipped about what transpired in the meeting, Mr Thampu on Tuesday issued a “Facebook press statement” announcing that the amendment has been approved and a press conference called in this regard stands cancelled.

He also termed the abstention of teachers and DU representatives from the meeting as “a spirit of intolerance” and further called a couple of teachers as “pseudo-activists”.

However, it was not clear whether the amendment draft was passed as the proposed one or with certain changes. Calls and text messages to Mr Thampu seeking clarification on the same went unanswered. The passed draft will be taken up in another meeting scheduled three months later.