Delhi University suspends PhD scholar for slapping professor, CCTV surfaces

The Delhi University (DU) suspended a PhD scholar of its Faculty of Law for allegedly slapping a professor, after a purported CCTV footage emerged.

The Delhi University (DU) on Monday suspended a 31-year-old PhD scholar of its Faculty of Law for allegedly slapping a professor, after CCTV footage of the alleged incident surfaced online. The university also constituted a three-member committee to conduct an independent inquiry into the matter.

The university’s action came after 134-second CCTV footage of the alleged incident was shared online (HT Archive)

The scholar, identified in the order as Shubham Singh, has been barred from entering university premises with immediate effect, according to an order issued by DU proctor Manoj Kumar Singh. HT has seen a copy of the order.

The university’s action came after 134-second CCTV footage of the alleged incident was shared online. The footage purportedly shows a man repeatedly slapping another man. HT could not independently verify the video.

The professor, Anupam Jha, has taught at the Faculty of Law for 23 years. Both Jha and Singh said the incident was linked to Singh’s PhD admission interview in 2025, during which Jha was one of the panel members.

“As per the CCTV footage received regarding the incident that occurred at 10.30am at Umang Bhawan involving the alleged misconduct of Shubham Singh, a PhD scholar of the Faculty of Law admitted in the academic session 2024-25, it is hereby notified that he is suspended from the faculty with immediate effect. His entry into the premises of the university is banned,” the order said.

In a separate order, DU said a three-member committee headed by professor Rajeev Gupta of the chemistry department, with professors Vipul Singh and Sudha Singh as members, had been constituted to investigate the allegations.

Professor alleges second confrontation

Jha told HT that he was on his way to a class when Singh allegedly approached him and started hitting him. “My elbow is injured and my hand is bruised. He is not my student and my interaction with him has been extremely limited,” Jha said.

He alleged that this was the second such instance. “On July 29, 2025, he barged into my office, asking why I questioned him about the Constitution during his PhD interview. I questioned him as a member of the panel. Beyond that there has been no interaction,” Jha said.

Singh, however, described the incident as an outburst of “accumulated frustration” linked to his PhD interview and the circumstances surrounding his admission.

“I was frustrated with the questions the professor had asked me in the interview and the overall system wherein I got enrolled in the course in 2024-25. However, classes began just a few days ago,” said Singh, who completed his LLB in 2020 and LLM in 2024 before enrolling for a PhD at the law faculty.

He said his research proposal examined the continuation of the colonial legacy of state interaction with religion in relation to “Bharati Secularism”. “The professor kept asking why Bharati Secularism and not Indian Secularism. I couldn’t clear the admission in the phase-1 round and in the second round, he asked the same question,” Singh said.

The incident drew condemnation from sections of the university’s teaching community, with teachers raising concerns over campus safety. “We are deeply concerned about how quality teaching-learning can be conducted when such a violent aggression is committed against a teacher. In such a situation of fear and apprehensions, how will the teachers be able to discharge their duties without fear?” the Academics for Action and Development Delhi Teachers’ Association said in a statement.

“Today’s assault is not an isolated case. The safety and dignity of teachers on campus is being repeatedly compromised. Only recently, several professors at the Faculty of Law were verbally abused by a student in a separate incident. Last year, DUSU joint secretary Deepika Jha slapped a professor at Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar College,” said Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF).

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