Jawaharlal Nehru University has rusticated a final-year woman PhD student for two semesters without providing her with a copy of the complaint or the evidence against her, which varsity rules and various court orders mandate it to do, the students’ union has alleged.
Swati Singh, former councillor with the JNU students’ union and president of the Leftist body, the Democratic Students Federation (DSF), has also been declared “out of bounds”, which means she cannot enter the campus for the period of rustication.
The PhD student of Russian Studies, whose activism has been a thorn in the side of the JNU administration for years, has in the showcause notice been accused of “manhandling” and “misbehaving” with security guards during the admission process.
Singh told The Telegraph she had not misbehaved with anyone — rather, members of the RSS student arm ABVP had misbehaved with her.
The university’s rules and several high court orders say that a student facing an allegation must be provided with a copy of the complaint and any evidence supporting it.
In Singh’s case, JNU has not followed this, the students’ union has said in a media statement that termed the university’s decision “arbitrary” and “unjust”.
An email has been sent to vice-chancellor Shantishree Pandit seeking her comments on the students’ allegation. Her response is awaited.
“The decision to rusticate her for two semesters and impose an out-of-bounds order without following any due process raises serious concerns about the erosion of democratic rights within our university,” the students’ union said.
It alleged that during the admission process, ABVP members had misbehaved with multiple female members of various student bodies, but no action had been initiated against any of them.
DSF secretary Anagha Pradeep said in a statement that rusticating Singh in the final year of her PhD programme showed a complete disregard for the challenges a woman student faces in pursuing an academic career while being an activist as well.
Singh had been elected as a students’ union councillor in 2017 and 2018. Since 2017, she has been served with more than 15 showcause notices by the proctor’s office in connection with various student protests.
Till her rustication, she had been punished four times with fines, all of which she challenged in court, where they are pending.
Last updated on 12 Nov 2023
