The Jawaharlal Nehru Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) has written to the university’s Vice-Chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar stating that show cause notices issued to 15 students over allegations of indiscipline on February 27 and 28 this year for protesting against seat cut in research programmes were based on an “inquiry riddled with illegalities” and was a “perversion of due process”.
The students were issued show cause notices by the university’s Chief Proctor.
‘Shoddily written report’
The JNUTA said it had examined some documents shown by the students, and said that it was “once again distressed by the violation of all principles of natural justice and due process in the proceedings thus far”.
“The shoddily written report does not discuss the evidence against each student for the offence listed in the show cause notice, both in terms of witnesses and videographic/CCTV material. It also suppresses the fact of a public notice issued by the JNU administration inviting students to come meet the V-C on February 27,” read the letter.
The association added that it had hoped that “after stiff reprimand from a recent High Court judgment on the high-level enquiry committee cases, reform would be inevitable” and demanded an immediate correction be made in the procedure of dealing with cases of indiscipline.