10 yrs on, lecturer waits for justice
Ten years and intervention by HRD minister Kapil Sibal have not been enough for the ministry to decide on an appeal filed by a sacked lecturer to re-consider his dismissal. Chetan Chauhan reports.
Ten years and intervention by HRD minister Kapil Sibal have not been enough for the ministry to decide on an appeal filed by a sacked lecturer to re-consider his dismissal.
SS Dubey, a lecturer at the IGNOU, was dismissed in 2002 on charges of indiscipline. As the IGNOU did not have its own rules, it adopted the Central Conduct Service rule of 1965 to take the action against him.
Under the rule, any official whose service is terminated has right to file an appeal with the President. Dubey filed an appeal in August 2002, which was referred to the HRD ministry to take a final call.
Nothing much happened for the next three years despite several reminders by Dubey. When the RTI Act came into force, Dubey filed an application seeking the status of his appeal. To his disdain, the ministry claimed his file was not traceable.
The appellate authority in the ministry —the then joint secretary — directed the ministry to reconstruct the file and get IGNOU chancellor’s comments. Acting on the ministry’s directive, the varsity then appointed a panel to examine the case.
The panel’s suggestion to review the action against Dubey was discussed in the IGNOU board meeting and the ministry was informed about it.
In 2010, Dubey met Sibal four times. Not being able to decide in the last 10 years, the ministry has now asked Dubey to go back to the varsity, which sacked him, to get justice. “I want the ministry to decide on my appeal on merit,” he said.