Himachal Pradesh HC Grants Stay on Contempt of Court Case Against HPNLU Vice-Chancellor

Himachal Pradesh HC Grants Stay on Contempt of Court Case Against HPNLU Vice-Chancellor

On Friday, the High Court of Himachal Pradesh issued a stay order on the contempt of court proceedings involving Professor Nishtha Jaiswal, the Vice-Chancellor of Himachal Pradesh National Law University (HPNLU) in Shimla.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice MS Ramachandra Rao and Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua intervened by issuing a stay on a prior order issued by a single judge, emphasizing that...

"Prima facie, even before the registration of contempt case against the Vice Chancellor of H.P. NLU, the learned single judge could not have given a finding that she had committed willful disobedience of the Court’s order," the bench said.

The Division Bench has granted a stay on the single-judge order, specifically regarding the directive to the High Court's Registry to register the contempt case against Professor Jaiswal. The case is scheduled for further hearings on April 22.
 
The Court was addressing Jaiswal's appeal against an order issued by Justice Ajay Mohan Goel on January 9.
 
Justice Goel noted that Professor Jaiswal's choice to delegate the obligation of adhering to a prior court order to the university's registrar suggested a deliberate act of disobedience to the court. Consequently, he directed the High Court Registry to initiate the registration of a contempt of court case.
 
Justice Goel presided over a petition seeking the enforcement of a November 2023 directive, which had instructed the Vice-Chancellor of HPNLU to adjudicate on a student's appeal to reappear and retake a supplementary examination for a second-semester subject. This decision was to be made during the period when regular exams for the third year were being conducted.
 
The petition was resolved with instructions for Professor Jaiswal to respond to the student's representation within two days of its receipt. However, the Vice-Chancellor conveyed her unavailability to respond and instead delegated the authority to address the student's representation to the University's Registrar.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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