Niranjan Oberay, a 32-year-old PhD student at Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University (MGAHV), had filed a petition on February 1 with the Maharashtra High Court concerning his expulsion which took place on January 27.

Following this, on February 9, Friday, MGAHV, was issued a notice during the hearing by the Maharashtra High Court of the Judicature at Bombay Nagpur Bench, Nagpur. It read, “Issue notice before admission to the respondents, returnable on 16-2-2024." Thus, the university has been issued notices.

Additionally, in line with this writ petition, the notice issued by the high court highlighted the contention. It read, “The contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner is that the candidature of the petitioner as Research Fellow pursuing PhD is cancelled without affording an opportunity of hearing to him.” 

Why was the issue taken to High court?
The issue dates back to Republic Day when a few students chanted slogans against the alleged unlawful appointment of Vice-Chancellor Dr Bhimarao Metri. It is alleged that the VC was appointed without following the norms of the college. As a result of that, the students were protesting. Niranjan is alleged to be one such individual who was part of a protest regarding this on January 26 and hence, he was expelled. However, Niranjan has claimed that he was not present at the programme.

Repercussions faced by other students
Along with Niranjan, another student named Rajesh Kumar Yadav was also expelled for the same reasons. The incident is not only limited to this. Vivek Mishra, a 21-year-old dramatics student was suspended on January 27 for “unclear” reasons. Later, he protested starting February 1 to find out the right reasons behind his suspension. It is alleged that Mishra made a derogatory post on Facebook concerning the Republic Day event, and therefore, a suspension order was issued.

Presently, Mishra is at Government Medical Hospital (GMC), Nagpur because of his poor health conditions as he had initiated a hunger strike for almost four days outside his college while protesting. Along with Vivek Mishra, a student named Jatin Chaudhary, a 21-year-old  was expelled too. His expulsion order stated, “Given the indecency, violence, anarchy and actions taken against teachers, officers and security personnel on January 27, 2024, creating an obstruction in administrative work and spreading fear and unrest, Mr Jatin Choudhary, Graduate Programme, Japanese Session. 2021-24 is expelled from the University with immediate effect.”

However, Jatin stands against the order stated by the college and he further stated that he will take this matter to the high court.