HC stays NCSC recommendations to lodge FIR against 4 IIT-K faculty

ALLAHABAD : The Allahabad High Court has stayed the recommendations of the national commission for schedule caste (NCSC) asking the director of IIT-Kanpur to lodge an FIR against its four faculty members for atrocities on an assistant professor belonging to schedule caste. The court was of the view that the commission passed the order without giving the members any opportunity of hearing.

The court also stayed the commission’s recommendation to secretary, Ministry of Human Resource and Development, asking the official to stay the appointment of one of the petitioners, Dr Rajiv Shekhar, as director IITISM, Dhanbad, and also direction to remove the faculties against whom the complaint was moved from the membership of departmental faculty affairs committee of the Aerospace department.

The court, however clarified that administration of IIT-Kanpur, if it thought fit, may proceed to conduct disciplinary proceedings against the professors allegedly involved in the case in accordance with law without being influenced by any observations made by the commission in its orders dated April 13, 2018.

An assistant professor in the department of the Aerospace at the IIT-K S. Sadrela had accused Rajiv Shekhar (at present the director IIT-Dhanbad), professor Sanjay Mittal, professor Eshan Sharma and professor CS Upadhayaya of harassment and filed a case against them at the NCSC.

The HC bench comprising justice Krishna Murari and justice Ashok Kumar passed the above order while hearing a petition filed by Ishan Sharma and three others.

The petitioner’s plea was that the commission acted beyond its jurisdiction while making these recommendations and it had no power to pass such recommendations.

They said the order dated April 13 was filed without giving them any opportunity of hearing, which was violation of natural justice. Hence, the order was bad as per law.

Meanwhile, acting director of the IIT-K Dr Manindra Agarwal said the stay order of the court was received on Tuesday and as such no case would be initiated against the professors.