NEW DELHI: More than a month after the Delhi High Court restored the Jamia Teachers’ Association (JTA) and allowed faculty members to reconstitute their long-stalled representative body, the university administration has yet to implement the order on the ground.
The office allotted to the teachers’ association remains locked, with no approval from the vice-chancellor to hand it over, leaving teachers caught in administrative limbo despite a three-year legal battle.
On October 28, 2025, the High Court set aside Jamia Millia Islamia’s 2022 decision to dissolve the JTA, calling the university’s action “unjustified.” The ruling reinstated the teachers’ body after its abrupt dissolution in November 2022, a move that had effectively paralysed its functioning. For three years, the association’s office stayed sealed, financial access remained blocked and elected members were prevented from carrying out basic duties.
While the court’s decision paved the way for the JTA general body to reconvene and elect a new executive committee, the process has stalled due to the administration’s inaction.
According to university sources, the vice-chancellor has not yet granted permission to open the association’s room, a requirement for initiating the reconstitution process. The room, they said, “continues to be locked exactly as it was during the suspension period.”
A senior professor, requesting anonymity, said teachers have repeatedly approached the vice-chancellor to allow access to the office but have received no response. “We have reminded him several times. Without access to the room, we cannot begin forming the executive committee or officially revive the association,” the professor said. Vice-Chancellor Mazhar Asif did not respond to queries on the delay.
The tussle dates back to November 2022, when Jamia Millia Islamia declared the JTA elections null and void, dissolved the association and suspended Professor Sonya Surabhi Gupta, who had served as the Returning Officer for those elections.
The administration had argued that the JTA’s term had ended in May 2022 and that the elections were invalid – a position the High Court later rejected.
A former JTA president had earlier emphasised that Jamia had been functioning without a teachers’ body, an anomaly among central universities due to what he called the “dictatorial and unconstitutional” decision of the previous administration. He had also said the restored body was ready to begin fresh elections and reconstitute the association, which earlier had more than 600 members.
For now, however, the revival of the JTA remains stuck behind a locked door, with faculty members waiting for the administration to act on a court order that was supposed to end a prolonged deadlock.
This news is reported by Ifrah Mufti of The New Indian Express
