![\"St](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-47529300,imgsize-110164,width-400,height-225,resizemode-72\/47529300.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\nNew Delhi: As the first-ever woman principal of St Stephen\u2019s College, Susan Elias, assumed charge on Monday, Delhi University<\/a> said it would move court and seek the Union education ministry\u2019s intervention to stop funding over the college\u2019s alleged non-compliance with regulatory and university norms.DU registrar Vikas Gupta<\/a> told TOI <\/span>that representations sent to University Grants Commission<\/a>, which funds the college, had not received any response so far. \u201cIn cases of non-compliance by an affiliated college, the university has limited powers. We will seek legal opinion and take appropriate action,\u201d he said.The dispute has implications beyond governance and autonomy. The recognition of a principal’s appointment by the university has financial consequences because salaries and other service-related liabilities are met from UGC funds. DU has maintained that if it does not recognise an appointment, UGC funds cannot be used to meet the salary and related liabilities attached to the post. \u201cAny such expenditure is an unauthorised expenditure,\u201d Gupta said.In the past, too, appointment of St Stephen\u2019s principals had been a flashpoint between the college and DU, with the last two appointments leading to legal battles.On May 14, days after Elias was chosen as the first woman to head the 145-year-old institution, DU wrote to the chairman of the college\u2019s governing body, Paul Swarup, asking it not to proceed with her appointment. The university contended that the selection committee, which recommended her appointment, did not include the vice-chancellor\u2019s nominees and was not constituted in accordance with UGC Regulations 2018, rendering the appointment untenable.TOI <\/span>reached out to Elias and Swarup on Monday, but did not receive any response.The latest controversy follows a long-running dispute over the tenure of previous principal John Varghese. His extension in 2021 was challenged in court by DU over alleged violations of appointment norms. More recently, DU objected to the college\u2019s proposal to directly absorb Varghese as a professor in its English department and asked the institution not to proceed with the move.Former principal Valson Thampu, who headed the college between 2008 and 2016, was also appointed amid disagreements between the college and the university. In 2008, Delhi High Court held that St Stephen\u2019s, as a minority institution protected under Article 30 of the Constitution, was not bound by certain DU provisions governing the composition of principal selection committees.However, the subsequent notification of the UGC Regulations 2018 has emerged as a fresh point of contention. DU maintains that the regulations are binding, while St Stephen\u2019s has consistently asserted the autonomy available to minority institutions in matters of administration and appointments.<\/div>\n