Jamia banned student over car parking,HC says no way

The reason: Ashraf had been parking his car at a no-parking area in the campus,a “gross indiscipline”,as per the Proctor. His note also said Ashraf’s presence in the campus may cause law and order problem.

Surprised,Ashraf filed an RTI application to determine what triggered the extreme reaction of his university. That was when he realised his violation of parking rules and an instance of indiscipline in 2005,for which he was warned,led Jamia to ban him from campus.

Ashraf approached the Delhi High Court,which came down heavily on the institute and its Proctor for taking such a “harsh” decision without even issuing a show-cause notice to Ashraf.

Justice Kailash Gambhir took to task the Proctor for his note dated October 12,2010.

“The act of the Proctor is beyond comprehension of this court. It is an absolute draconian decision taken by the Proctor to ban the entry of the petitioner even as he has been a student of the institution for last so many years,” said Justice Gambhir.

The court asked how the petitioner could be banned on such a trivial matter.

“Teachers are revered as god in our culture. They are responsible for shaping the lives of the students. The sanctity and status of their positions should be maintained,” said Justice Gambhir. He added there was a violation of Principles of Natural Justice in the case,as Ashraf was not given a hearing.

For the instance of indiscipline in 2005,the court said Jamia had then issued a warning to him and the matter had to be considered closed as Ashraf was allowed to continue with his post-graduate studies.

Justice Gambhir quashed the Proctor’s note and ordered the university to forward his application of PhD for registration with the department concerned.