DUTA Press Statement, 14 February 2017

The vacation of stay today by Hon’ble High Court of Delhi on the proceedings and report of the Fact Finding Committee constituted by Prof. Dinesh Singh, the then Vice Chancellor of the University of Delhi, to inquire into complaints gathered from three persons – the Principal of Kalindi College, the Principal of Deshbandhu College and the Director of Campus of Open Learning – is a matter of grave concern. That this happened due to the pleading of the lawyers representing the University for vacating the stay is shocking.


This is specially so in view of the continuing unyielding position taken on behalf of the University that the University has the power to derecognise Nandita Narain as a teacher despite the fact that Abha Dev Habib, the then member of the Executive Council, had apprised the Vice-Chancellor in August 2016 of the details about this vindictive action initiated during Prof. Singh’s tenure as the Vice-Chancellor. She had specifically pointed out the following: 


(a) that the complaints were made by the three individuals soon after the DUTA released in 2014 a White Paper where the three individuals apart from Prof. Dinesh Singh and others in his administration were named for various wrong-doings; 


(b) that the Fact Finding Committee was constituted by Prof. Singh some time after that without seeking any clarification from Nandita Narain, 


(c) that even the fact that a Committee had been constituted was not communicated to Nandita Narain while the Committee continued with its proceedings till mid-October 2015 when she was asked to appear before the Committee at once without first making the complaints available to her and disallowing her to respond in writing; 


and (D) that Nandita Narain was forced to approach the Hon’ble High Court in view of the vitiated environment when vindictive action appeared imminent.


It is unfortunate that the much needed steps to repair the vitiated conditions of the University with regard to governance, dialogue and acrimony have not been initiated. The targeting of the President of DUTA for lodging complaints and protests or seeking dialogue does violence to the very idea of a university.