Attendance issue: Dept heads replaced by JNU are reinstated, Delhi High Court steps in

The Delhi High Court Friday reinstated one dean and four chairpersons of different schools and centres in JNU, after they agreed to follow the mandatory attendance requirement of 75% decided by the varsity’s Academic Council (AC). Justice Rekha Palli also issued notice to the JNU administration and asked them to respond within seven days to the plea filed by the professors, challenging the legality of the attendance requirement besides their replacement as deans and chairpersons. The next hearing is on May 11.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioners, assured the court that the professors will follow university rules without prejudice to their rights to challenge the legality of the decision regarding attendance, and subject to the final outcome of the case. Those reinstated are Kavita Singh (School of Arts and Aesthetics); Uday Kumar (Centre for English Studies, School of Language, Literature and Cultural Studies); Dhir Sarangi (School of Language, Literature and Cultural Studies); Pradip Kumar Datta (School of International Studies); and Sucheta Mahajan (School of Social Sciences).

JNU counsel Monika Arora told the court that the varsity has no objection to the reinstatement of the teachers as deans and chairpersons, as long as they follow the attendance norms. Arora also contended that the attendance norms were fixed according to the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations.

She added that attendance was made mandatory in the wake of the dropout rate among students, and professors complaining of consistent absenteeism. On March 14, JNU had replaced the heads of various schools and centres over their opposition to the mandatory attendance rule. The professors had then moved the High Court. In their plea, the professors alleged that the decision was taken on the basis of “false and illegal minutes” contrary to the agenda and proceedings of the 144th AC meeting. JNU has a total of 13 deans and 38 chairpersons, besides five chairpersons of special centres.
News Source (Indian Express)