St Stephen’s probe report puts student under scanner
NEW DELHI: A St Stephen’s College student, who had complained about the college principal for banning the weekly magazine, has been named for flouting discipline in an inquiry committee report that came out on Friday.
The one-member committee comprising Sanjay Rao Ayde, the senior tutor of the college, points out that the third-year philosophy student Devansh Mehta has “undermined college discipline” on two grounds.
First, he along with other students had brought out the college magazine into the public domain without waiting for e permission from the principal Valson Thampu and despite being informed about the same earlier. Second, Mehta approached the media without trying to first resolve the issue within the college and or without making an attempt to meet the principal.
Apart from the report, an open letter — titled St Stephen’s and the Freedom of expression — has also been uploaded on the college website in which Thamphu has said that he had “no option but to disallow what promised to be a dishonest and disruptive venture (Stephen’s Weekly)”. Using student testimonies, he has also lashed out at Hindustan Times for giving Devansh Mehta attention to the ‘ban’.
The inquiry report also says that there was no ambiguity regarding the fact that the principal had clearly outlined that the interview could be uploaded only after he had read the transcript.
The report also points out that other co-founders - Paritosh Ghosh, Rajat Sharma and Ratika Sharma - had already apologized to the principal, but Mehta went ahead and brought the issue before the media.
The report believes that the word used should not have been “banned” as it was only a “postponement of publication”, as the principal had said he would relook into the proposal in July.
Contacted, students of the college said that the current developments had “shocked” them.
“In no way should a principal stoop so low and use college resources to malign a student and defend himself,” said a student.
Speaking to HT, Professor Ayde said: “Devansh is our student and not a criminal. We will deal with him in a manner that is in the spirit of our college.”
The ‘ban’ has received much attention from alumni and intellectuals. Former chief election commissioner SY Quraishi came out in support of Devansh on an opinion website. “Banning free speech, whatever the provocation, will prove counterproductive and weaken the college,” Quraishi said.