KHAIDEM JACKO MEITEI Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Mr. H. Kenajit, learned counsel for the petitioner. Heard also Mr. B.P. Sahu, learned Sr. Counsel assisted by Mr. Hyungyo Zingkhei, learned counsel; Mr. A. Bimol, learned Sr. Counsel assisted by Mr. S. Sasi, learned counsel; Mr. M. Rarry, learned counsel and Mr. S. Suresh, learned ASG for the Respondents.

(2.) The present PIL has been filed seeking for a direction, inter alia, to make an enquiry into the irregularities in Ph.D. theses which were undertaken by Research Scholars under the supervision of the Respondent no. 4 in the Department of Hindi, Manipur University alleging that there had been large scale plagiarism. It is alleged that the petitioner came across certain news item widely published in a local news daily dated 25.01.2013 wherein it was reported that there had been large scale replication of thesis in the Manipur University. Thereafter, the petitioner made certain enquiry on his own from the library of the Manipur University whereupon it was found that many candidates who had undergone Ph.D. courses under the supervision of the Respondent no. 4 had copied from the research work already undertaken by one Dinanath Singh under the supervision of Prof. Jawahar Singh in the year 1997 on the topic "Shivprasad Singh Ke Upanyason Ka Samaj Shastriya Adhyayan". It was alleged that some of the contents and names of the theses were similar except that the name of the authors were different. The petitioner has catalogued such works of plagiarism in para No. 4 of the PIL, relevant portions of which are reproduced herein below:

(3.) Thus, the gravamen of the allegations of the petitioner is that the research scholars who had undertaken/completed Ph.D courses under the Respondent No. 4 had resorted to large scale of plagiarism of an earlier thesis submitted by a Ph.D scholar under the Manipur University.