University of Hyderabad student issued notice for abusing professor on social media

HYDERABAD: Days after the students of the University of Hyderabad had raked up the issue of an abusive social media post by a student against Prof K Laxminarayana of the School of Economics, the administration announced on Friday that the student concerned was issued a show-cause notice. Accordingly, the student, Karan Palsaniya, will appear before the University’s Proctorial Board on January 17.

University spokesman Prof Vinod Pavarala said in a statement that the complaint given by the professor to the vice-chancellor was taken seriously and, after eliciting the opinion of the dean of school, referred it to the Proctorial Board, the authorised disciplinary body.

“The University of Hyderabad would like to state unequivocally that it has zero tolerance for physical or verbal abuse of faculty members or administrative staff in the course of discharging their duties. We fully expect all interactions among various sections of the university community to be conducted with mutual respect, dignity and decorum,”   Clarifying the university’s stand after students alleged that it was going soft on the student concerned, who is also an ABVP leader, Pavarala explained, “The complaint came at the end of the last semester and because of the intervening winter break, the board took up the matter immediately after reopening in early January.”