The principal ordered a ban on the publication for not taking his clearance on the content.
Amidst a controversy over the banning of a student e-zine by St Stephen's Principal Valson Thampu, its editor has now been suspended from the college till April 23 on disciplinary grounds. "Devansh Mehta has been found guilty of breaching the discipline of the college by a one-man inquiry commission, the report of which has been posted on the college website. He is suspended with immediate effect till April 23, 2015," Thampu said in the suspension order issued today. "During... his suspension, the campus of the college in its entirety shall be out of bounds for him," he added.
Mehta had along with three other students started an e-zine, St Stephen's Weekly which went live on March 7 and registered over 2,000 hits on an interview of Thampu, following which the principal ordered a ban on the publication for not taking his clearance on the content.
The move had invited criticism from reputed college alumni, including former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) SY Quraishi and former Delhi Lokayukta, Justice (retd) Manmohan Sarin, who have requested Thampu to reconsider a decision that has been termed 'extreme' and 'disproportionate'.
Thampu had appointed a one-man disciplinary committee to look into the matter and, in its report submitted last week, it had defended the principal's action after finding the students guilty of violating the college's disciplinary norms. The three other students, however, chose to apologise to Thampu and were against Mehta's decision to report the matter to media.
Mehta's parents slammed the college's decision, saying they expect the authorities to deal with the matter in a graceful manner. "We are very upset with this development. The principal is clearly victimising our son for merely speaking to the media and informing them of the ban on the e-zine. He has done nothing wrong. It behoves the principal's office to exhibit more grace in dealing with the matter," his mother Manisha Mehta said.
Repeated calls and text messages to Thampu seeking his comments went unanswered.
Mehta, a third-year Philosophy student who was earlier selected by the college faculty for the Rai Saheb Banarsi Das Memorial Prize, was yesterday dropped from the list of awardees. He was to have received the prize from Kejriwal, who will be the Chief Guest at the college's graduation ceremony.
The said prize is awarded to an undergraduate student in Philosophy or Economy at the college who has shown a high standard of personal conduct and marked degree of curricular and co-curricular excellence.
As per the suspension order, Mehta will not be able to attend the graduation ceremony now. "The person has misbehaved... the disciplinary committee has also said this in a report that he is guilty of misconduct and insulted the college. No one has denied him, he has disqualified himself... The citation (for the award) says it is for good conduct. How can a person found guilty of misconduct be given such an award?" the principal had said even as some students at the college have slammed the move.
A student said, "Principals are supposed to be caretakers and guardians of the students and inspire them to greater heights, not cut them down and destroy them."
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