JNU students get HC hearing

The Delhi high court has stayed the order of its single judge bench which had dismissed a students’ plea against JNU’s new admission policy for 2017-18 capping the number of students per professor for MPhil and PhD courses.

The students have claimed that proper procedure was not followed by the university while adopting a 2016 notification of the University Grant Commission (UGC) on admission policy.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra decided to review the single judge bench verdict noting that it will have “wide ramifications”.

“It cannot be denied that the Single Judge in the impugned order has given findings and made absolute propositions of law which would have wide ramifications,” the bench said in its March 18 order.

Observing that the students have made out a “prima facie” case against the JNU’s admission process, the bench directed that till the next date of hearing on April 28, the single judge verdict will be stayed.

The single judge had refused to accept the students’ contention that the university can decide how to implement the regulations, saying once UGC framed the regulations, the varsity was required to follow it.

The single judge had rejected students’ contention, saying the UGC Act, under which the regulation was issued, was enacted by Parliament and would prevail over the JNU Act which lays down the procedure for adopting the notification.

The single judge’s judgement had come on the students’ plea contending that the UGC notification dated July 5, 2016, “threatens to put our future in jeopardy” as they would not be able to find research supervisors/guides due to the said notification.

Apart from the JNU students, the Students Federation of India (SFI) has also moved the court against the UGC norms on the eligibility and manner of admission to the MPhil and PhD courses in the country.

The SFI has challenged the constitutional validity of the UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of MPhil and PhD degree) Regulations 2016 which came into effect from July 5, 2016.