Allahabad High Court questions order for judicial probe into caste discrimination at NLU Prayagraj

The Allahabad High Court has questioned a single-judge's order directing a judicial probe into caste discrimination allegations against Dr Deepak Sharma, the Head of the Department of Law, Dr. Rajendra Prasad National Law University, Prayagraj (RPNLU) [Dr Deepak Sharma v State of UP And 5 Others]..A Bench of Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Kunal Ravi Singh said there was no occasion to order a judicial inquiry when an Equal Opportunity Cell is already in place at the university."Even if the allegations are of a serious nature, the power of the University to examine such allegations through an appropriately constituted Equal Opportunity Cell ought not to have been taken away, as it is within the domain of the University to look into the welfare of the students and deal with situations as they arise," the Court said. However, considering that the inquiry report was required to be submitted by September 24, the Court said the same be placed before it in a sealed cover on September 29, if it has been already prepared. .The order was passed by the division bench on an appeal moved by Dr. Sharma who argued that a probe by judicial officers was not required in the matter since it could have been handled by the Equal Opportunity Cell.The petition before the single-judge has been moved by a PhD scholar along with the victim student alleging that no action was taken against Dr. Sharma despite repeated reminders.Following Dr. Sharma's appeal, the division bench has stayed the proceedings pending before the single-judge..The complaint filed on August 20 alleged that Sharma, who belongs to an "upper caste" community, resorted to a stricter evaluation of the victim=student's answer sheets due to his caste. The accused is also alleged to have made comments on multiple occasions regarding the student's caste and the reservation benefits availed by him. .On September 16, Justice Vinod Diwakar had asked Judge of Small Causes Court Archana Singh and Chief Judicial Magistrate Arun Kumar Yadava to conduct an inquiry into the allegations levelled by a BA LLB (Hons.) student against Dr. Sharma, who is also the Warden of the Boys' Hostel,. The Court had observed that the allegations are serious in nature and required to be examined in an impartial manner after affording a full opportunity of hearing to the accused academic.The Court had also ordered that Dr. Sharma shall be relieved henceforth from all administrative responsibilities till the completion of the enquiry..Considering the complaint, the single-judge had directed the Vice Chancellor to constitute an independent committee to re-evaluate the answer sheets of the student in the subjects taught and evaluated by the accused in the fifth semester. The Court had also directed the VC to ensure that neither of the petitioners are subjected to any adverse consequence, academic or administrative, for approaching the High Court inthe matter or for any statement made in the course of the inquiry. .Senior Advocates Anil Tiwari and Prabhakar Awasthi with advocates Shashank Pandey appeared for Dr. Deepak Sharma.Advocate Shivam Agarwal represented the original petiitoners.Senior Advocate Gaurav Agrawal with advocate Gaurav Tripathi represented the university..[Read Order]