A Single Judge Bench of Justice Harish Kumar heard the petition filed by a postgraduate student of the 1st semester, Department of Media Studies, Mahatma Gandhi Central University, East Champaran, challenging his suspension and subsequent expulsion from the University.

The dispute arose after the petitioner raised allegations of irregularities in the University's process for promotion of a non-teaching employee, Dinesh Hooda. According to the petitioner, despite complaints made by him and others regarding the alleged irregularities, no action was taken by the University. Claiming to be a whistle-blower, the petitioner subsequently brought the alleged administrative irregularities to the public domain through social media platforms.

This led to a show-cause notice dated 12.07.2024 issued by the Chief Proctor, alleging that the petitioner's conduct and indiscipline was unbecoming of a student and attracted penal provisions relating to cybercrime. The petitioner submitted his explanation on 18.07.2024 and also requested the University to take action against the concerned employee. A second show-cause notice was issued on 19.07.2024, which was replied to by the petitioner on 25.07.2024.

Despite this, the petitioner was placed under suspension on 25.07.2024. Thereafter, by order dated 14.08.2024, he was expelled from the University with immediate effect, prohibited from entering any University campus or premises and debarred from taking admission in any programme of study in the University.

The petitioner challenged the action, contending that the expulsion was for an indefinite period and that he had not been given a specific opportunity to respond to the proposed punishment of expulsion. He also contended that the report of the Discipline Committee had not been supplied to him.

The Court examined Ordinance 17 of the Central Universities Act, 2009, relating to maintenance of student discipline. Clause 4 provides for punishments including fine, campus ban, expulsion and rustication, while Clause 6 mandates that no such punishment shall be imposed unless the student is given a fair chance to defend himself.

The Court further noted that Clause 22(b) of Ordinance 17 empowers the Proctor to suspend or rusticate a student for a maximum period of two weeks. A similar limitation is contained in Clause 12(2) of Model Ordinance 49 for Central Universities.

While the Court did not consider it necessary to adjudicate the legality of the initial suspension at that stage, it found serious infirmities in the subsequent disciplinary process. The Court noted that although the matter had been referred to the Discipline Committee, the petitioner was never supplied with the Committee's report or the material collected during the enquiry.

More importantly, before imposing the extreme punishment of indefinite expulsion, the University had not issued any specific show-cause notice informing the petitioner that expulsion was proposed against him. The Court observed:

“Even before inflicting the extreme punishment of expulsion for an indefinite period, which prima facie appears to be not even authorized under the Act and the Ordinance, the petitioner has not been served with the specific show-cause notice along with the enquiry report, as to why not the petitioner be expelled from the University.”

The Court held that the action of the University did not withstand the test of fairness and clearly violated the principles of natural justice. It further held that indefinite expulsion, contrary to the governing Act and Ordinances, was not warranted.

Accordingly, the Court set aside the expulsion order dated 14.08.2024 and directed the University to re-induct the petitioner, allow him to complete his course and permit him to appear in the examination. The Court, however, also expected the petitioner to maintain discipline in the institution.

Appearance:

For the Petitioner/s: Mr. Prashant Kashyap, Adv.; Mr. Kaushtubh Prakash, Adv.; Mr. Alok Ranjan, Adv.; Mr. Anal Kumar Singh, Adv.

For the Respondent/s: Mr. Bindhyachal Rai, Sr. Panel Counsel

For the University: Mr. Vishal Saurabh, Adv.