Allahabad High Court quashes sacking of BHU faculty

The Allahabad high court has reinstated Magsaysay award winner Sandeep Pandey by quashing the controversial decision of IIT Banaras Hindu University (BHU) board to prematurely terminate his contract for his alleged “anti-national activities and links with Naxal groups”.

The division bench of Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice V.K. Shukla, which struck down the BHU order, described the termination of Mr Pandey’s contract as “stigmatic/punitive and taken more due to the fact of differing ideological view rather than to follow laid down guidelines/rules of conduct”.

The court order observed that “It is clearly reflected that basically differences of ideologies has led to such action as petitioner (Mr Pandey) appears to be a believer of a different ideologue than the ideologue believed by the incumbent, who proceeded to make complaint”.

The court severely indicted the IIT BHU authorities and noted, “Academic administrators should be politically neutral at the point of time of dealing with academic/administrative matters of the University.

The decision of academic administrator has to be free from malice and the said authority has to be exercised in a free, fair and transparent manner after complying with the principles of natural justice”. Mr Pandey had challenged the decision of the IIT BHU board in the Allahabad high court.

He had been serving as a visiting professor, taking mechanical and chemical engineering classes at IIT BHU. BHU officials refused to comment on the matter and said that they would first study the court order.