The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed Jawaharlal Nehru University to allow the submission of theses by five students who were penalised in connection with a campus event in 2016. Justice Siddharth Mridul told the varsity to ensure that the students are allowed to continue in their hostels and their applications for registration for the next academic year are accepted, reported PTI.
The court also told Rubina Saife, Komal Mohite, Aswathi A Nair, Reyazul Haque and Anwesha Chakraborty that “there should be no hubris that you have an order from the high court”. “It should not turn into the aftermath of an England-France soccer match,” the judge told the students. “You cannot take the law into your hands.”
The Delhi High Court’s order came after student leader Umar Khalid on Monday alleged that the university refused to accept his PhD thesis and those of two other students citing “non-compliance with punishments” given to them by a high-level inquiry committee.
A high-level inquiry committee of the university had imposed fines on the 15 students for their involvement in an event to commemorate the death anniversary of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in February 2016, during which several students were accused of shouting “anti-national slogans”. The committee had also withdrawn hostel facilities for the students.
The committee also upheld the rustication of student leader Umar Khalid and Rs 10,000 fine imposed on Kanhaiya Kumar, the former president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union.
Kumar moved the Delhi High Court and on July 20, the court set aside the committee’s order imposing Rs 10,000 fine on Kumar. The High Court has also restrained the varsity from taking any coercive steps against Khalid till the next hearing on August 16.
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