E-Paper
MDU asks advocate to return scholarship to get PhD degree
MDU’s fact-finding panel says research scholars the varsity’s department of law can avail scholarship for PhD only after suspending their advocate licence
A research scholar in Maharshi Dayanand University’s (MDU) department of law can avail university research scholarship for PhD only after suspending their advocate licence issued by Punjab and Haryana high court bar council, a four-member fact finding committee formed by vice-chancellor Rajbir Singh observed.
The committee made the observation in connection with the case against research scholar Pradeep Kumar, who has been awaiting his PhD degree for more than two years.
The varsity’s academic council has now, in its 200th meeting, asked him to refund the scholarship amount before getting his degree. The fact-finding committee headed by retired professor Ajay Rajan, who is presently working as advisor to the MDU V-C presented a report that found that Pradeep violated university ordinance by availing university scholarship of ₹4.95 lakh from November 30, 2015 to November, 29, 2019 while retaining the membership of bar council of Punjab and Haryana HC/ Rohtak bar association.
Besides, the academic council also observed that Pradeep has violated provisions by pursuing an evening diploma in tabla from the music department in session 2018-19.
The committee observed that Pradeep had taken admission in LLM and PhD programmes while being a registered advocate. The Bar council of India dated January 23,2010 clarified that practising advocates can join LLM courses as regular students but was silent on the provisions for PhD programmes, it found.
“He (Pradeep Kumar) availed university research scholarship in violation of clause 9(b) of URS ordinance and clause (d) of award letter issued to him by concealing the fact that he was practising advocate during the same time,” the report read.
In response, Pradeep, Jannayak Janata party’s 2019 Lok Sabha election candidate from the Rohtak parliamentary seat, has accused V-C Rajbir Singh of stopping his PhD degree from award as a reaction to him raising serious allegations over the V-C’s academic qualification.
Pradeep said he had filed an RTI application and found that the law department scholars, who are getting scholarships are registered advocates and he is the first registered advocate, whose degree was stopped.
“A majority of law faculty members are also registered advocates. There was no mention in university ordinance that an advocate cannot avail scholarship and pursue PhD,” he added.
During the grievances meeting in Rohtak last week, MDU registrar Prof Gulshan Taneja told Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala that the varsity was ready to award the Ph.D degree to Pradeep, but he has to return scholarship sum as an advocate cannot avail scholarship. Dushyant, who asked the registrar about the rule’s mention in the ordinance, has formed a committee headed by Rohtak deputy commissioner Ajay Kumar to look into the matter.
