A Supreme Court Bench comprising of Justice P Sadashivam and Justice Anil R Dave on July 6 directed the Delhi University Vice Chancellor to place the report of the Expert Committee and the views of the petitioner Shri Dina Nath Batra in the Academic Council and take necessary action. The controversy relates to an essay ‘Three Hundred Ramayanas’, written by AK Ramanujan taught to BA (Hons) IInd year History students in Delhi University. Shri Batra of Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti alleged that the essay is blasphemous and ought to be deleted from the syllabus, as it corrupts the minds of the students. On September 19, 2008, the Supreme Court had permitted Shri Batra to place his views on the essay before the Vice Chancellor, who was asked to submit the report before the Academic Council. Shri Batra has moved to the apex court after the Delhi High Court dismissed his petition. In his latest application before the apex court, Shri Batra claimed that though he approached the Vice Chancellor several times, the latter did not show any interest in taking steps to submit his report before the Academic Council.
(FOC)
