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The Supreme Court has today issued notice on a plea filed by a final year BA student challenging his rustication upheld by Allahabad High Court for protesting against CAA and NRC.

A bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice MM Sundresh enquired from the counsel appearing for the petitioner whether the student has minimum required attendance for appearing in the examination.

The petitioner is a student of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Urdu, Arabi-Farsi University who is seeking direction allowing him to sit in the examination. The petitioner had called for a protest through a Facebook Post in furtherance of which the petitioner was immediately rusticated.

The bench allowed the student to appear in the examination while keeping the question open. The bench further added that it wanted the petitioner to complete his graduation.

The Petitioner in his appeal has submitted that he belongs to a family with limited means and is the only earning member of a large family and would have to discontinue education. 

Moreover, the Petitioner’s career is at stake as the Petitioner is a last year student and he has completed all 5 semester (out of total 6 semesters) with above average marks and only examination of the last and final semester is left but the University has rusticated the Petitioner merely for attempting to exercise his Constitutional right to hold peaceful protests and right to freedom of speech and expression. 

It has been submitted that protests were called off by him and were not organized and still Chancellor of the University passed an order dated 03.03.2021 confirming his rustication. 

“The punishment imposed upon the Petitioner for the exercise of his Constitutional rights is unconscionable as well disproportionate”, the petitioner states.

The petitioner has argued that It may be borne no ordinance dealing with student’s disciplinary matters is available in the public domain till date, and the University has not framed and finalized an ordinance even though the University was established in the year 2009. The power of suspension or rustication is uncontrolled and is thus being exercised in a whimsical manner.

The petitioner has submitted that he was initially rusticated vide order dated 22.12.2019, without being given any opportunity of hearing, passed by the Registrar of the University only because he voiced his opinion against the CAA and was planning to organize protests against the CAA.

Aggrieved by the above, the Petitioner moved a representation dated 06.01.2020 seeking recall/reconsideration of the order and later approached the High Court by way of Writ Petition.

Thereafter by an order dated 17.01.2020, the Registrar of the university constituted a 7 Member Committee (including the Registrar himself) and modified the order of rustication to suspension upon direction of the Vice Chancellor. The committee comprises of all persons subordinate to the Registrar and Vice Chancellor, and did not have any independent/external members.

Thereafter on February 28,2020, an order was issued by the Proctor of the University imposing a punishment of expulsion / rustication allegedly based on the report of the 7 Member Committee. 

Against the rustication order, the Petitioner applied to the Chancellor who  issued a letter dated September 29, 2020 seeking explanation from the Petitioner.

The petitioner says that the seven-member committee’s report is dated 17.09.2020, whereas the Proctor had already passed the rustication order on 28.02.2020 allegedly based on the Committee's Report.

Though the  Petitioner furnished his reply  but no decision was taken after which a petition was filed before the High Court which was dismissed. 

The petitioner has argued  that in the impugned order, the High Court has not appreciated the aforesaid facts and has not even considered that the doctrine of proportionality has not even been applied.

It has also been stated that since the beginning, the conduct of the University has been biased against the Petitioner.

On December 17, the Petitioner shared a post via his Account on the social media platform “Facebook” from another Facebook account named “Chaatr Chintak Sabha”. The said post called upon the students of the Respondent University to gather in the University Campus and Peacefully express their dissent and protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019, that was passed by the Parliament of India on 11th December, 2019. The said post called upon the students to channelize the spirit of Sufism as well as non-violence as preached by Mahatma Gandhi, to uphold the secular structure of India, and exercise their fundamental right to peacefully protest.

The petitioner has submitted that for sharing / posting this message calling for a peaceful protest gathering, the Petitioner was promptly rusticated from the University without notice or any opportunity of hearing.  

Case Title: Ahamad Raza Khan v. Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Urdu, Arabi-Farsi University & Ors.