The Hindu : New Delhi News : JNU upbraided for debarring student

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Friday, Nov 30, 2007
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New Delhi

JNU upbraided for debarring student

Staff Reporter

V-C also pulled up for supporting the action

‘Pay the student Rs.25,000 as costs of the proceedings’
Offer him a seat as per his choice, directs High Court

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has upbraided Jawaharlal Nehru University here for not following the principles of natural justice and arbitrarily debarring a Dalit student from seeking admission to any of its M. Phil courses.

Justice Ravindra Bhatt directed the JNU to offer the student, Amritashva Kamal, a seat in European Studies or in Russian, Central Asian and European Studies as per his choice in the reserved category and admit him to the course in the next academic sessions for an M. Phil degree.

The Court also directed the JNU to pay Kamal Rs.25,000 as costs of the proceedings within two weeks.

The Chief Proctor of the JNU with prior approval of the Vice-Chancellor had in May this year by an “office order” barred the applicant from entering the campus and taking admission to any of its programmes of study for his alleged involvement in a quarrel on the campus involving his younger brother studying there.

The quarrel had taken place following casteist remarks made against Kamal’s younger brother by some JNU students last year.

The JNU had set up an enquiry committee to probe the incident on a complaint by the victim and had later rusticated three students for abusing the victim on the recommendation of the committee. Kamal had approached the High Court challenging the “office order”.

He had applied for admission to an M. Phil programme of study and had received calls for viva-voce in March this year. Pulling up the JNU for taking action against Kamal without citing any incriminating material against him, Mr. Justice Bhat said: “There is no more justice where the victim and the oppressor are treated alike, as where the lion and the lamb are afforded the same treatment. That JNU has done so betrays its callousness, to say the least.”

“Sadly, the stark reality of caste prejudices has been highlighted in this case. JNU with its mandate of promoting modern education and secular values has displayed rank insensitivity,” Mr. Justice Bhatt said. The Court also pulled up the JNU Vice-Chancellor for supporting the action against the petitioner without conducting an inquiry. “That the V-C has chosen to support such a stand and ‘applied his mind’ is alarming, to say the least.” “Conceived as a premier institution of higher learning with an international reputation, the defence put forth by it about the futility of inquiry against someone likely to be irreversibly prejudiced by its action or even deny information to him of its action is disquieting at this point in time.”

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