NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to advance the hearing of a petition assailing the order of Jamia Millia Islamia dissolving an association of its teachers. The petitioner had sought the hearing of the case to be advanced from September 19 to an early date.
Justice Subramonium Prasad said no reason was given by the petitioner as to why this case be given special treatment over other matters. ‘The application does not disclose any reason why the hearing be preponed from September 19’ There is no reason given as to why this case is given special treatment over other cases. The application is dismissed,’ the high court said.
The application, filed through advocate Abhik Chimni, also sought a stay on the university’s order dissolving the Jamia Teachers Association and direction to conduct elections to the body. The high court dismissed the application and said the pleadings be completed before the next date of hearing and the matter be taken up on September 19 for arguments.
The high court had on December 7, 2022 issued notice on the petition by Amir Azam, a former president of the Jamia Teachers Association, and asked the respondent university to place in a sealed cover a copy of the report of a committee constituted to examine the association’s constitution.
It had granted time to the varsity to file its response to the petition. Lawyer Pritish Sabharwal, appearing on behalf of the university, had said the teachers’ association has to be in conformity with the Jamia Act, and a six-member committee has been formed to look at the constitution of the association, and a report was awaited.
In the petition filed through lawyers Ch. Animes Prusty and Mukul Kulhari, the petitioner ‘ a scientist who earlier worked as a professor in the Department of Chemistry at JMI, said the Jamia Teachers’ Association was constituted in 1967 as an autonomous body and has since operated as per the constitution towards protecting interests of teachers.