HC orders IIT Delhi committee to conclude probe into plagiarism allegations

The Delhi High Court (HC) ordered a committee at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi to conclude its probe into the allegation of plagiarism made by a PhD scholar against two of professors and submit a report to it.

According to a report by PTI, Justice Sanjeev Narula was dealing with the scholar’s plea against the termination of his registration from the institute on account of unsatisfactory performance in two consecutive semesters. He stated that the facts of the case are "quite unsettling" and he requested a report from the Student Grievance Redressal Committee on the matter before making any interim decisions.

The petitioner alleged that his co-guide used two of his research proposals to obtain a Lok Sabha-sponsored fellowship that was worth Rs 10.80 lakh for herself. He said that the name of the chairperson of the Student Research Committee, who was also his research supervisor, was mentioned as the Co-Principal Investigator on research proposals for the fellowship.

The petitioner also claimed that after he confronted them about the issue of plagiarism, they adopted an adversarial attitude towards him, which led to his complaints to the Student Grievance Redressal Committee, the Institute Level Plagiarism Committee, and the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances.

The counsel for IIT Delhi agreed that the issue of plagiarism was very serious and the petitioner's allegation was viewed with seriousness by the institute. They informed that the Institute Level Plagiarism Committee would consider the complaint of the petitioner.

The lawyer said that any action that could be taken on the complaint would depend on the report of the committee. "In light of the foregoing, interim directions are deferred till the next date of hearing. In the meantime, the Institute Level Plagiarism Committee is directed to conclude the investigation and submit the report to the court. Further, the report prepared by the Student Grievance Redressal Committee be also filed with this court before the next date of hearing, with a copy to the Petitioner," said the court in its order passed earlier this month.

The court also issued a notice on the petition and granted time to the institute to file its response. The petitioner, who joined the Department of Management Studies as a full-time PhD scholar in 2018, also alleged that he virtually participated in several conferences at universities and institutes around the world but it was not appreciated by his co-guide and that she used to criticise him for the same on the grounds that he did not seek their approval prior to participating in such conferences. The court listed the matter for further hearing on July 19.