Delhi High Court has directed Jawaharlal Nehru University to release the gratuity of four retired faculty members with 6 per cent interest from the date the dues have been pending.
The faculty members were part of a group of 48 teaching staff who had taken part in a protest in 2018 against the university's "arbitrary way" of functioning.
The faculty members — B.S. Butola, Janaki Nair, B.N. Mallick and Avijit Pathak — retired over three years ago.
In 2018, the administration led by then vice-chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar issued showcause notices to the 48 faculty members for protesting against the administration over the alleged harassment and humiliation of some employees. A year later, they were chargesheeted. However, the high court stayed the chargesheets, and the stay order is still in force.
The university, however, continued to withhold their retirement benefits as and when any of these 48 teachers retired. Gratuity is a legitimate due of an employee. After their gratuity was withheld, the four faculty members moved the high court.
The court questioned the statutory basis for withholding the gratuity. The university agreed to release the dues in four weeks.
The JNU Teachers’ Association said: "...The JNUTA sees this as an admission by JNU that its actions lacked any legal basis and were purely vindictive."
Surajit Mazumdar, the JNUTA president who issued the statement along with secretary Meenakshi Sundriyal, said the order would also come as a relief to the other professors who have retired in the last five years.