Jamia Millia Islamia university on Friday prevented teachers from organising a union meeting following a row over alleged attempts by the administration to thwart the democratic process of elections.

An advisory issued by Jamia registrar Nazim Husain Al-Jafri alleged that the meeting, which the teachers later called off, was being planned to “disrupt the smooth functioning of the university”. On Thursday, the university had dissolved the Jamia Teachers’ Association (JTA) and suspended a faculty member for not taking the approval of the authorities to take part in elections of the teachers’ union. The JTA had continued to serve despite its tenure ending in May 2022.

The university also sealed the office of the JTA. The JTA had scheduled the general body meeting on Friday to decide the future course of action. The Jamia advisory asked the faculty members not to attend the meeting and warned of disciplinary action.

JTA secretary Mohd Irfan Qureshi was sent a showcause notice asking for an explanation on why a general body meeting had been called when the JTA had been “dissolved”.

The JTA cancelled the meeting. The JTA had last month started the process to elect its office-bearers and appointed a professor, Sonya Surabhi Gupta, as the returning office for the elections.

On November 7, the university asked her to explain why she had not taken the approval of the competent authority before assuming charge as returning officer. The university cited the service conditions of faculty members that mandate fulltime devotion to Jamia’s academic duties and permission for engaging in other business.

In her response, Gupta said the returning officers appointed in the past had never taken any approval from the university to engage in election activities. The university did not accept the argument, accused her of misconduct and suspended her.

The university then dissolved the JTA on the ground that the election process violated duty norms. A faculty member pointed out that the JTA is not a subordinate body of the administration. The JMI Act treats the JTA as an independent body that cannot be dissolved by the administration.