The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said it was “unfortunate” that Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was “overlooking” issues of plagiarism, especially by one its faculty members.
A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar said, “You [JNU] should yourself react to plagiarism. It is unfortunate that a reputed academic institution is overlooking plagiarism by one of its faculty.”
The court’s oral observation came while issuing notices to the Centre, the University Grants Commission (UGC) and JNU on an application moved by a lawyer seeking an independent report regarding alleged plagiarism by an assistant professor of the varsity’s Centre for Turkish School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies.
The Bench has sought responses by September 4, the next date of hearing.
The application was filed in the main petition moved by advocate Mobashshir Sarwar and M. Arshad Parvez, a Turkish language student from Jamia Millia Islamia.
‘Thesis plagiarised too’
The plea has sought removal of the professor for allegedly plagiarising an online literature work on Turkish language and publishing it in 2012 with a new title. The petition also alleged that Assistant Professor Gous Mashkoor Khan had plagiarised the thesis for his master’s degree in Turkish language and literature.
The petitioners have sought a direction to JNU to “constitute a high-level fact-finding committee for fixing responsibilities of the intellectual plagiarism committed by the assistant professor”. They have also sought a direction to the UGC to constitute a permanent panel to prevent plagiarism in academic circles.