AUD faculty halt services, JNUTA extends support for reinstatement of terminated professors

NEW DELHI: Condemning the removal of two senior faculty members at Ambedkar University, Delhi (AUD) from service and calling the decision ‘illegal’, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association (JNUTA) demanded their immediate reinstatement. Noting that the professors are alumni of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), the teachers’ body found the action taken against them reflecting an alarming trend of authoritarian behavior by university administrations.

Meanwhile, the Ambedkar University Delhi Faculty Association (AUDFA) observed a non-cooperation day across all its campuses to protest the ‘unfair’ termination of professors Asmita Kabra and Salil Mishra. Faculty members took mass casual leaves, halting regular activities, and gathered for a town hall meeting at the Kashmere Gate campus in the CR area to discuss the alarming attack on the university. The faculty body feels that the decision to dismiss these professors, based on a departmental inquiry that invoked the Central Civil Services (CCS) rules, marks a dangerous precedent for the entire teaching community.

The manner in which the inquiry was conducted has raised serious concerns among faculty and students alike. The terminations stem from the professors’ involvement in a long-standing AUDFA initiative—the regularization of non-teaching staff. Faculty members expressed strong solidarity with their colleagues, emphasizing their ethical commitment to stand by those who implemented this policy, which they see as an important step toward justice and fairness within the university.

Students, too, voiced their anger and frustration, sharing memories of the faculty members who have been forced to leave the university in the wake of an allegedly increasingly oppressive environment. In a display of solidarity, students read poems and sang songs in support of the dismissed professors.

“We find this punishment as the last straw of a torrent of injustices that the current AUD administration has been raining on the university community. The faculty has been facing demotions, stalling of promotions, extortion-like recovery notices, caste and gender harassments of both non teaching and teaching faculty, punishment transfers etc. As far as the immediate issue or terminations are concerned, we will continue our struggle on when the BoM decision is taken back,” AUDFA stated.

AUD under current administration

Under the current vice-chancellor, AUD has been in a state of unrest, leading to ongoing protests by the faculty, supported by the AUDFA, the JNUTA said.

Defending the faculty members, the teachers’ group explained that the charges leveled against the two faculty members are linked to their role in the regularization of long-serving contractual non-teaching staff at AUD. This decision, as well as the procedures for regularization, were approved by the previous board of management at AUD, which included representatives from the Delhi government. The faculty members' involvement was limited to executing the administrative procedures related to these policy decisions.

No evidence has been presented to suggest that they personally benefited from the regularization or acted with any ulterior motive. In contrast, the actions of the university administration in dismissing these faculty members raise significant questions about their integrity, the teachers of JNU stated.

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While the new administration at AUD later reversed the regularization decision, deeming it non-compliant with university rules, the affected employees have challenged this decision in court, with the matter still under judicial consideration by the Delhi High Court. An initial inquiry into the regularization process found no individual responsibility for any errors, indicating that any misjudgment was procedural rather than intentional misconduct. In this context, the accusations against the faculty members can be seen as a case of judgment error, not misconduct—something that is legally distinguished by the Supreme Court. The real misconduct, JNUTA argued, lies in the arbitrary decision to terminate these faculty members, which appears to be part of a broader effort to suppress academic freedom.

Autonomy issues at JNU

The teachers expressed full solidarity with the two dismissed faculty members and the ongoing struggles of the AUDFA against what they see as an orchestrated attempt to undermine the university. JNUTA views this issue as part of a larger, systemic attack on the autonomy of universities across the country, with similar patterns observed at JNU, including in relation to issues like CAS promotions and probationary extensions.

JNUTA joined the call for the immediate reinstatement of the two faculty members at AUD and pledged to continue its fight in support of their cause. Furthermore, JNUTA reaffirmed its position that the Central Civil Services (CCS) Rules, under which the disciplinary proceedings against the faculty members were conducted, are not applicable to university teachers. Attempts to apply these rules are seen as part of a larger, harmful agenda that threatens the academic freedom central to higher education.