High Court of DelhiW.P.(C)/19701/2025

Umesh Prasad Sah Hathi v. Jawaharlal Nehru University & ORS.

2026-02-09Hon'Ble Mr. Justice Sanjeev Narula3 pages

Mr. Atul Nagrajan, Mr. Rishav S., Mr.

Kshitij Goel, Mr.

Vishal Choubey, Mr. Vikrant Yadav, Mr.

Uddhav Tandon, Advocates.

versus JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY & ORS. .....Respondents Through:

Mr. Vasanth Rajasekaran, Senior Standing Counsel for JNU with Mr.

Karan Prakash, Mr. Harshvardhan Korada, Mr. Om Bali, Ms. Deepshika Kumar, Advocates for JNU.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJEEV NARULA

O R D E R

% 09.02.2026 CM APPL. 8010/2026 (for disposal of the petition) 1.

The Petitioner approached this Court aggrieved by the alleged denial of permission to join the post of Project Research Scientist-I in terms of the offer letter dated 04th September, 2025.

The Petitioner contends that despite being found meritorious and issued an offer letter, the Respondent declined to permit him to join, allegedly on the basis of his nationality.

The Court called upon the University to file its response. In the counter affidavit, the Respondent categorically refuted the allegation of The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

wrongful denial of joining. The relevant averments in paragraphs 5 to 8 read as under:

"5. The Petitioner alleges that the Respondent University arbitrarily denied the Petitioner to join the said project even after qualifying the merit-based interview dated 11.08.2025, subsequently being awarded the aforementioned offer letter issued by Senior Officer, Project Admin Cell, JNU vide F.No. PAC/SBT/SK/ICMR/1563.

6. At the very outset, the allegations of wrongfully denying the Petitioner to join the said project are denied. It is submitted that the Respondent University never denied the Petitioner's joining for the said position with due procedure.

7. It is submitted that applications for the project named "Functional Characterization of newly identified modular rhodopsin for development of novel optogenetics tolls for deciphering molecular mechanistic off amyloid conversion and propagation" were invited from 06.06.2025 and the last date of application was 30.06.2025.

8. The Petitioner also submitted his application for the same and vide email dated 30.07.2025, the Petitioner was communicated about the interview scheduled on 11.08.2025 at SBT, Room No. 112. The Petitioner appeared for the interview before the committee and the recommendation of the committee regarding the mentioned appointment was submitted to the Project Admin Cell (PAC) for issuing an offer letter to the selected candidates through proper channel."

In view of the categorical stand taken in the counter affidavit that the Petitioner's nationality has no bearing on the appointment and no other reason for denial being disclosed, no subsisting dispute survives for adjudication.

Moreover, it is noted that the Respondents have confirmed that the Petitioner was duly selected for the post in question and that the selection process was conducted in a fair and transparent manner; therefore, no dispute appears to survive. Nonetheless, as the Respondents have sought dismissal of the petition as a matter of course, the Court finds it appropriate to issue suitable directions to rule out any ambiguity. 6.

in terms of the counter affidavit, with a direction to permit the Petitioner to join the post in terms of the offer letter dated 04th September, 2025, subject to completion of requisite formalities, if any. 7.

It must also be noted that although the Petitioner had also claimed back wages, counsel for the Petitioner very fairly states that the same is not being pressed and only requests that the term of appointment commence from the date of joining. Accordingly, the Petitioner is directed to report for joining with the University for the post of Project Research Scientist-I on 16th February, 2026 (Monday).

With the above directions, the petition is dismissed along with pending application(s).

The date already fixed i.e. 2nd April, 2026 stands cancelled. SANJEEV NARULA, J FEBRUARY 9, 2026/ab The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.