
The Madras High Court on Friday, January 31, quashed the order issued by Pachaiyappa's College, suspending an assistant professor of the college for inviting Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Member of Parliament (MP) and former Union Minister A Raja for a function of the students' study circle.
Justice V Bhavani Subbaroyan passed the orders in this regard on the petition filed by the suspended professor AD Revathy, teaching in the college's Department of Philosophy, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
During the arguments, Additional Advocate General J Ravindran, appearing for the state government, told the court such an action was harsh and cannot be sustained.
The petitioner stated she has been serving in the college since 2016 and has been the academic in-charge of the 'The Pachaiyappa's Study Circle' formed in 2018. The circle was formed with the aim of creating a platform for the students to critically discuss various books and authors.
A circle organised a function on January 7, marking its seventh anniversary, in which the MP participated. She said prior permission was obtained from the principal and the secretary of the Pachaiyappa's Trust and the the principal had intimated all the faculty members about the event and asked them to participate.
However, on January 10, she was handed the suspension order, signed by the secretary of the trust, citing the inviting of the MP and the conduct of the event without permission from the college's administration as reasons. The suspension order is without any basis since due permission was already obtained, the petitioner told the court, according to the report by The New Indian Express.
She said placing her under suspension was not only illegal but also affected the students, since she has been handling classes for the undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) students, besides guiding three research scholars in their PhD programmes.