DU Professor's Plea: Teacher's conduct as HoD needs to be blemish-free, says Delhi HC

NEW DELHI: The conduct of a teacher as a Head of the Department, who is required to be involved in various activities including interacting with students, needs to be "blemish-free", the Delhi High Court has observed while dismissing a DU professor's plea aggrieved over non-appointment as the HoD following a sexual harassment complaint.

The high court said Ordinance XXIII of the Delhi University makes it very clear that it gives discretion to the vice-chancellor to appoint a Head of the Department (HoD). Justice V Kameswar Rao said HoD is a temporary appointment for a fixed period without any extra remuneration and after the period is complete, he or she comes back to his or her original designation.

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"In that sense, it is not a permanent position like a promotion, the denial of which causes great prejudice. No such prejudice is caused on being denied the post of HoD, for good and valid reasons," the court said. It further said, "The conduct of a professor or teacher as an HoD, who is required to involve himself in various activities of the department, which includes interacting with the students and the teachers, need to be blemish-free."

The court's order came while dismissing a plea by a professor challenging the appointment of another professor as the HoD of Chemistry Department on the ground that the petition was the senior-most professor in the university and was entitled as an HoD. The case of the university was that pursuant to a complaint of sexual harassment made by a teacher with regard to certain professors, including the petitioner, who was part of the Interview Committee, the Internal Complaint Committees were formed which have not found anything against him as they have exonerated him.

Pursuant to a finding of a committee, the university issued a communication to the professor warning him for the misconduct and that he should not participate in the interviews of the complainant in future in order to maintain fairness in the selection process. Senior advocate Sanjoy Ghose, appearing on behalf of the petitioner, submitted that warning is not a penalty under the Conduct Rules and as such, there is no bar for the university to consider the petitioner's case for appointment as an HoD.

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Advocate Santosh Kumar, representing the Delhi University, submitted that in terms of the Ordinance XXIII of the university, there is no compulsion to appoint the senior-most professor if there are good valid reasons. The court said it has also been decided that he shall not participate in the interview of the complainant in the future in order to maintain fairness in the selection process. Concedingly, the petitioner has accepted the communication of October 01, 2021, and has not challenged the same in the court of law.