Delhi HC permits rusticated JNU students to appear for exams

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has ordered Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to permit nine rusticated students, accused of sexual harassment, to appear for their exams starting Wednesday.

Justice Vikas Mahajan further directed JNU to refrain from taking coercive action against the students, including forcing them to vacate their hostels, until May 28, when the case will be heard next.

"Having regard to the submission of the counsel for the petitioners, more particularly to the fact that there is a violation of principles of natural justice, the respondent university is directed to allow the petitioners to take their examination till the next date of hearing, and no coercive action shall be taken against them to vacate their hostels," the court said on May 13.

JNU Rusticates Nine Students, Court Issues Notice Over Alleged Violations

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) issued separate orders on May 5, rusticating nine students for two semesters and barring them from the campus with immediate effect.

The students challenged the ruling, seeking to set aside the university’s decision. Advocate Kumar Piyush Pushkar, representing them, argued that the petitioners were denied the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses during the university’s inquiry, violating principles of natural justice.

The Delhi High Court has now issued a notice to JNU, directing it to file a response within a week. The students’ plea highlighted that examinations were scheduled to begin on May 14, but the rustication order prevented them from appearing.

In its interim order, the court clarified the interim relief won't create any special equities in favour of the petitioners, and its directions were subject to the case's outcome.

Forty-seven women students from the Centre for the Study of Social Systems (CSSS) filed a complaint with JNU's Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) alleging sexual harassment and violence during the CSSS freshers' party at the university convention centre on October 22, 2024.

The petitioners alleged that on October 25, 2024, the vice-chancellor summoned them to her office and, without conducting an inquiry or forming a committee, rusticated them for two semesters and barred them from the campus for a year.

The Delhi High Court later stayed the university’s order, restraining authorities from evicting the petitioners from their hostels.

In April, the petitioners received a show-cause notice along with an inquiry report, asking them to justify why disciplinary action should not be taken against them. They submitted their replies to the chief proctor but were rusticated again for two semesters on May 5, along with a fine of Rs 10,000, without being given the chance to cross-examine witnesses, their plea stated.

(inputs from PTI)