A top official at Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya (MGAHV), a central university in Wardha, is facing contempt of court proceedings for allegedly denying entry in campus to a student who was expelled by the varsity but got interim relief from Bombay High Court (HC).
A bench of justices Nitin Sambre and Abhay Mantri at the Nagpur bench of HC on Tuesday issued a notice of contempt to the university registrar Dharvesh Katheria and asked him to remain present in the court on Monday next week. Niranjan Oberay, the student, was expelled alongwith five of his peers earlier this year, following their protest against the 'illegal' appointment of the varsity's then vice chancellor (VC) Bhimaraya Metri.
Contempt Petition and Campus Restrictions: Continuing Turmoil at MGAHV
While the varsity claimed that the students had 'played in the hands of anti-national elements', the court later stayed the action against Oberay and another expelled student. In his contempt petition, Oberay has alleged that alleged that despite the court order in his favour, the university has prevented has been preventing him from entering the campus.
He claimed that whenever he tried to enter the campus, the security guards stopped him saying that they were directed to do so from higher ups. He also wrote multiple e-mails to university authorities, but to no avail.When FPJ reached out to Katheria for a comment, he said that he was busy and asked to contact later.During the past several months, MGAHV has been witnessing an upheaval around the post of VC.
Controversy And Legal Battle Surrounding VC Appointment At Central University
Rajneesh Kumar Shukla had left as the head of the central university in August last year following a controversy over his alleged chats with a woman. The charge of VC was then temporarily handed to Karunyakara Lella, a professor at institute. However, two months later, President Draupadi Murmu, who is the Visitor at the university, appointed Metri, the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Nagpur Director, as the VC.Metri's appointment met with opposition from some students who staged offline and online protest.
They claimed that the appointment violated the varsity statutes that required that the senior most professor of the university should be made VC in the interim period. The institute, however, cracked down on the agitators and handed over letters of expulsion. Lella, the senior most professor at MGAHV, also moved HC against the President's appointment order. Last month, the court quashed Metri's appointment while allowing Murmu to make a fresh appointment on the post.
