UDAYA KUMAR Vs. JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner herein joined the Respondent University as a Professor on 01.10.2015 in the Centre for English Studies, School of Language Literature and Culture Studies. Petitioner, as averred in the petition, is a renowned scholar in his discipline of Literary Studies. He has been teaching English Literature and Cultural Studies for more than 23 years and has also researched and published extensively on English literature, literary and cultural theory, autobiography studies, modern Indian literature and cultural studies. Petitioner has to his credit prestigious fellowships at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study at Nehru Memorial Museum & Library and Leverhulme Visiting Professorship at Newcastle University, United Kingdom. He also held the position of Chairperson of the Centre for English Studies from 12.01.2017 to 14.03.2018 and from 07.05.2018 to 11.01.2019.

(2.) On 21.01.2020, Petitioner, as required by the established procedure, wrote to the Registrar through the Dean (Head of the School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies) and the Chairperson (Head of the Centre for English Studies), and applied for Extra Ordinary Leave (hereinafter referred to as 'EOL') without pay for a period of 9 months, starting from 01.10.2020 to 30.06.2021, with vacation leave from 01.07.2021 to 14.07.2021, in order to pursue a Fellowship at Nantes Institute of Advanced Study, France.

(3.) According to the Petitioner, the Dean and the Chairperson who are the Academic and Administrative Officers of the Centre, recommended and forwarded his application to the Competent Authority. However, his application was rejected vide Resolution No. 6.6 passed in 284th meeting of the Executive Council (hereinafter referred to as 'EC') held on 18.02.2020 and thus the EOL was not sanctioned.