New Delhi, Feb. 8: Delhi’s St. Stephen’s College will have a full-time principal by May, ending a long-drawn battle for succession after Anil Wilson stepped down in mid-2006.

The supreme council — the highest decision-making body of the college — decided yesterday to conduct fresh selection for the post of principal, currently held on a temporary basis by Reverend Valson Thampu.

“The Supreme Council met yesterday and decided that we would advertise afresh for the post of principal,” Thampu’s media adviser Vinod Chowdhury said.

Thampu’s appointment — in May 2007 — has been mired in controversy virtually from the start, with a petitioner challenging his eligibility for the post before the National Commission for Minority Education Institutions.

Delhi University rules require college principals to be PhDs in a stream taught at the university.

Thampu did not hold a doctorate at the time of his appointment, but has recently obtained a PhD in theology from the Allahabad Agricultural University. Theology is not taught in Delhi University.

After Wilson stepped down — he has become vice-chancellor of Himachal University —then vice-principal Jacob Cherian was appointed principal on a temporary basis.

But Cherian was replaced by Thampu, who was not a teacher at the college.

Thampu was given the designation of officer on special duty, a post that, too, has been challenged before the minority commission.

Cherian lost his job as vice-principal and the bursar, R.K. Garg, was also dismissed.