New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the administration of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to verify if there was any dossier submitted by a professor allegedly depicting the university as a “den of organised sex racket”.
A bench comprising justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia asked the counsel representing Amita Singh, Professor and Chairperson of the Centre for Study of Law and Governance at the JNU, if they have submitted a dossier to the JNU vice-chancellor. Advocate R P Gupta, representing Singh, said, “No”.
After hearing submissions, the bench issued notice on the plea filed by Singh challenging the Delhi High Court order, which set aside a summons issued to the editor and deputy editor of the news portal “The Wire” in a criminal defamation case over the publication of the dossier.
The top court said, “We would also like JNU, through the vice-chancellor, to verify if any dossier was submitted at all, to what effect and by whom?” The bench clarified that the notice was issued to JNU on this limited aspect and also issued notice to the editor and deputy editor of the news portal.
The news portal’s editor and deputy editor had moved the high court against the summoning order claiming that there was no material on record on the basis of which the magistrate could have summoned them. On March 29, the high court set aside the summons issued to the editor and deputy editor of “The Wire” in the criminal defamation case.
In the trial court, the complainant had argued that the accused persons had launched a campaign to malign her reputation. The high court had said it was unable to distinguish how the article had famed the complainant when it “nowhere says that the respondent (Singh) is involved in the wrongful activities, nor does it make any other derogatory reference to her in connection therewith”.
