Delhi HC: Unfortunate JNU overlooking plagiarism claim

New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Wednesday said it was “unfortunate” that the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was “overlooking” issues of plagiarism, especially by one its faculty members.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar said,” You (JNU) should yourself react to plagiarism. It is unfortunate that a reputed academic institution is overlooking plagiarism by one of its faculty.”

The observation by the bench came while issuing notices to the Centre, University Grants Commission (UGC) and JNU on an application moved by a lawyer seeking an independent report regarding the alleged plagiarism by an assistant professor of the varsity’s Centre for Turkish School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies.

The application by advocate Mobashshir Sarwar was filed in the main petition moved by him and a Turkish language student from Jamia Milia Islamia — M. Arshad Parvez — seeking removal of the professor for allegedly plagiarising an online literature work on Turkish language and publishing the same in 2012 with a new title — ‘A new approach to Turkish language Learning’.

The assistant professor, Gous Mashkoor Khan, also plagiarised the thesis submitted by him for award of a Masters Degree in Turkish language and literature, the petition has alleged.

The application seeks an independent report regarding Khan’s book — A new Approach to Turkish Language Learning — and the thesis submitted by him.

The court sought the Centre, University Grants Commission and JNU’s response to the application by Septem-ber 4, the next date of hearing.    

D14