Reply to appeals within 18 days: Court directs Jindal varsity on suspension of 2 students over ‘Ram Mandir discussion’

Over a month after they were suspended for a semester and evicted from the varsity campus housing, the two students of O P Jindal University turned to the Punjab & Haryana High Court for justice. In their petition against the varsity and its vice-chancellor on Monday, the students sought that the show-cause and suspension notices they received in February be quashed on account of “the fact that (it) has been issued without following a due process as prescribed in the policy book of the university and the O P Jindal student’s code of conduct…”

The petition further said that the University be directed “to remove/ rectify any record on the file of the petitioners (two students) with respect to the show-cause notice… and suspension notice” Following the action taken against them, the students had also written to the varsity on February 21, appealing against the decision made by the University Student Disciplinary Committee (USDC) to suspend them until August 1.

The students’ appeal read: “We contend that the decision to suspend us for an entire semester was made by the USDC without following the principles of natural justice, as a fair opportunity for a hearing was not provided to us. In fact, the entire process of the disciplinary proceedings initiated against us lacked any due process and, hence, stands against the principles of natural justice.” Hours after they were suspended, the two students alleged that they were “manhandled” and asked to “vacate their hostels in the middle of the night” on February 10. A purported video shows one of the students being evicted from the hostel and dragged out by security staff.