Thaindian News

New Delhi, May 12 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Thursday reserved its order on charges by Delhi University (DU) that teachers of Dyal Singh College had flouted court orders by protesting against the implementation of the semester system.

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said: “The court will pronounce its final verdict on whether the teachers can be hauled up for the contempt of court or not next week.”

The counsel for DU moved an application alleging that the teachers of Dyal Singh College should be punished for contempt of court because they tried to stall the implementation of semester system.

“The college was suppose to sent the eligibility criteria and additional information regarding the curriculum being fixed by the university, but they refused to reply, stating that the matter is pending before the high court,” the counsel said.

According to the DU counsel, since the court had not stayed the implementation of semister system and has asked the teachers to cooperate with them in the interest of students, the teachers’ denial amounted to the contempt of court.

On behalf of the teachers, senior counsel Prashant Bhushan submitted that the teachers are protesting only because they are concerned about the students.

The bench also spoke to teachers of different DU colleges present in court.

An English teacher from Kamala Nehru College said: “We won’t teach if semester system is implemented.”

Meanwhile, on the issue of validating the varsity’s move to implement semester system in all its courses from the current academic year, the court said that it will hear the matter at length and pass its verdict in July.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court sought the response of the Delhi University and its vice-chancellor on a fresh plea challenging the implementation of the semester system.

The same bench has also issued notice to the varsity, its vice chancellor and the University Grants Commission (UGC) on a plea by a group of teachers seeking quashing of the April 19 notification to introduce the semester system for undergraduate courses in the arts stream from this year.

As of now, there are 13 courses, including physics, chemistry, botany and zoology, which follow the semester system in the university.

A petition by the Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) challenging the implementation of semester system for undergraduate students has been pending before the court since last year.