The Delhi High Court on Monday sought the stand of the Centre and Jamia Millia Islamia on a plea seeking setting aside of reinstatement of a professor who was removed from the university over allegation of plagiarism.
Contempt action
A Bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice C. Hari Shankar issued notices to the Centre and the university seeking their reply to a petition which sought contempt action against various officials of Jamia for allegedly fabricating a court order to facilitate the professor’s reinstatement.
The plea, filed by a former student of the university, has alleged that the professor had copied from a book, Media, Markets and Democracy, in his book titled Democracy and Media .
Jamia Millia Islamia Act
The petition said the university had in May 2011 removed the professor, who had challenged the decision in the High Court, where a single judge had in September 2011 and a Division Bench had in April 2012 affirmed the step taken by the university.
In 2015, the university amended a provision of the Jamia Millia Islamia Act that dealt with removal of academic staff to allow review of such a decision, the plea said.
The petition added that subsequent to the amendment, the professor moved a representation seeking a relook into his removal.
Jamia upheld its earlier decision and the professor challenged it in the High Court, which dismissed his plea in August 2016. He filed an appeal before a Division Bench against the dismissal of his plea, claimed the petition by Hamidur Rehman.
Review plea
Professor Deepak Kem also filed a review plea against the 2012 decision of the High Court, the petition said, alleging that this was not disclosed in court.
Thereafter, the university told the High Court that it had decided to review the professor’s plea for reinstatement and based on the submission, Prof. Kem’s appeal of 2016 was disposed, the plea said.
Prof. Kem was reinstated as a professor in Jamia but the decision has now been challenged in High Court by a former student of the university.
