St Stephen’s College has informed Delhi University that John Varghese has “every legal right” to continue as principal after the university declared his re-appointment “null and void”, claiming that due process was not followed.

The college said all “applicable regulations” were followed in Varghese’s re-appointment. In a letter dated August 22 to the college’s governing body chairman Prem Chand Singh, the university had conveyed that the continuation of Varghese as principal after the completion of his tenure was “illegal”.

The university and Varghese have been at loggerheads over the admission policy for several months.

Varghese was appointed the principal of St Stephen College on March 1, 2016, for five years. The supreme council of the college approved the extension recently.