HC seeks JNU reply on M.Phil, Ph.D admissions

New Delhi, Feb 21: The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice to the JNU on a plea against a UGC notification that a Professor cannot guide more than three M.Phil and eight Ph.D scholars at any one time.Justice V.K. Rao sought the response from the Jawaharlal Nehru University on the students plea by March 2.The May 5, 2016 University Grants Commission notification recommends an upper limit on the number of M.Phil and Ph.D students a faculty member can guide at a given time, which has become a bone of contention between the students and the university administration.The notification was adopted by the university during its 142nd Academic Council meet on December 26 amid protests from several Council members.The students argued that the UGC notification "threatens to put their future in jeopardy" as they would not be able to find a supervisor due to the clauses prescribed in the notification.The ramifications of the notification would extend beyond existing students and would also mean that very few admissions in the current academic session would take place for aspiring research scholars, thereby violating norms of mandated reservation norms, said the students.The JNU counsel told the court that the administration will not issue admission forms and prospectus for the next academic year till the next date of hearing on March 2.As a protest, the students have been "occupying" the Administrative Block of the university since February 9 despite requests to end the protest.