New Delhi, Sep 6 (PTI) Students and their parents involved in a prolonged legal battle with St. Stephen's College here were relieved on Friday with the Delhi High Court directing the college to grant admission to seven students previously denied admission due to a policy dispute.

The court's verdict, pronounced by Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, came in response to two separate petitions filed by the students.

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"I feel absolutely elated after hearing the judgement; my happiness knows no bounds. The time and effort the judge put into our case was commendable. We are eternally grateful to her and to our parents, who stood by us every step of the way," said a visibly overjoyed Aleena Imran, one of the petitioners.

"I'm looking forward to becoming a Stephanian and finally starting this new chapter of my life. I'm determined to make a mark there," she added.

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Her father, Col Adil Imran, called it a "landmark" judgement, saying it had lifted the children's spirits and their burden of anxiety.

"I was overwhelmed with emotion as the judgement unfolded in court. The judge, who granted us this relief, is nothing short of a Messiah and a saviour to us. She could clearly see the pain on the children's faces when they appeared in court," he said.

"She delivered such a significant verdict, bringing an end to their worries. It has restored their smiles, and they are now excited to step into a new phase of life — college."

The seven students had sought a direction to the college to provide them seats for the courses for which they have qualified.

The petitioners submitted that despite being allotted seats by the university in the college for the BA Economics (Hons) and the BA Programme courses, their admissions were not completed within the stipulated time. They were seeking admissions under the 'single girl child quota' fixed by Delhi University (DU).

While DU supported the petitions, they were opposed by the college.

Chamandeep S. Milkhy, another parent whose ward was denied admission by St. Stephen's College, said the verdict had reinforced his faith in the Indian judiciary.

He, however, expressed concern about the potential discrimination the students could face once they join the college.

"This decision has strengthened my and my son's faith in the Indian judiciary. After all we went through, we had began doubting our choice to study in India rather than abroad. I just hope these students won't face any discrimination in college because of this legal battle,” he said.

Prabhakar Sahu, whose daughter was also among the petitioners, said he felt that justice had finally been served.

"It's a huge relief. My daughter lost five kilograms in recent weeks due to the stress of the situation. They were left in limbo. But I'm grateful to the court for delivering justice to these students," he said.

The single-judge bench had earlier granted the relief of provisional admission to the six students while noting that there was no fault of these students who had successfully cleared the CUET exam and completed other formalities, and despite being meritorious, they were being kept under suspense regarding the fate of their admission.

However, the college challenged the order before the division bench, which barred the six students from attending classes till the pendency of the main petition.

The seventh student had approached the court later.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)