High Court puts suspension of St Stephen’s student on hold

On April 15, Mehta was suspended till April 23 after a one-man inquiry committee appointed by St Stephen’s principal Valson Thampu found him guilty of “breach of discipline”.

Justice Vibhu Bakhru issued notice to Delhi University, St Stephen’s College, Thampu and professor Sanjay Rao Ayde, who conducted the inquiry, and asked them to file their response by May 21.

Mehta, a third-year philosophy student, was allegedly suspended for launching the online magazine. 

During the hearing, Mehta’s counsel requested the court that he be awarded the Rai Saheb Banarsi Das Memorial Prize, for which he was earlier selected by the college. He was dropped from the list in the wake of the controversy. The court, however, said the award, for which Mehta was selected, should not be given to any other student till the next date of hearing. “We can’t strip someone from the award,” said Justice Bakhru. The award was to be given on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the court also asked Delhi University to act “impartially” in the case as it has to play “important role” in the case. The university counsel told the court that to some extent the student was guilty and he has not even denied the charges. “The charges are he spoke to the media. Will you (DU or college) suspend the student for this?” asked the court. Last month, the college banned the e-zine started by Mehta and other students over an interview of the principal, which, he said, had not been cleared. 

The e-zine went live on March 7 and registered over 2,000 hits on the interview. The online magazine was taken down on March 12 and the domain name now leads to a dead link.

Filing the petition, Mehta called the ban “arbitrary, illegal, malafide and shockingly unreasonable”. The plea said: “The main malicious accusations against the petitioner (Mehta) in this case are twofold — that of publishing an online magazine without taking prior approval from the principal, and subsequently conveying the news of the proscription of this magazine, to the media.” Mehta sought 

“quashing of the order banning/suspending publication of the St Stephen’s Weekly, stay on the 

suspension order and restraining the principal from taking any further action against him”.

Meanwhile, St Stephen’s principal Valson Thampu said he would gladly abide by the court’s order staying the student editor’s suspension on disciplinary grounds but maintained that he had acted in the interest of the college. “I am a law abiding citizen... I may have a different opinion but I gladly abide by the order of law. But at the same time I maintain that I have acted according to the best of my understanding and best of my intentions for the institution,” Thampu said. “No pursuit of excellence can distance itself from discipline, good conduct and respect for others. Values of an institution cannot be compromised under the pretext of free thinking,” he added.