Romila Thapar among 12 emeritus professors asked to submit CVs: JNU admin
New Delhi: Former JNU vice-chancellor Asis Datta, noted scientist R Rajaraman and historian Romila Thapar are among 12 emeritus professors whose CVs have been sought by Jawaharlal Nehru University administration for a review of their work.
The professor emeritus is an honorary position given to noted faculty members after their retirement. The emeritus professors are free to do academic work in the departments they are attached to and may supervise research scholars as a core supervisor along with regular faculty members.
The JNU administration's decision to ask Thapar to submit her CV for assessment for her continuation as professor emerita had drawn sharp criticism from various quarters. However, the JNU registrar on Monday said that there are 11 others who have also been asked to submit their CVs.
The HRD Ministry on Monday clarified that there was no move by JNU to discontinue anyone's professor emeritus status and only the standard procedures were being followed.
"Professors H S Gill, C K Varshney, SD Muni, Ashok Sanjay Guha, Asis Datta, R Rajaraman, Romila Thapar, Yogendra Singh, D Banerji, T K Oommen, Amit Bhaduri and Shiela Bhalla have been sent letters by the varsity administration. They attained the age of 75 before March 31, 2019," JNU registrar Pramod Kumar told PTI.
He said some of them have already sent their replies, including Thapar. Those who have not sent their replies, will be sent reminders and after their replies are received, a committee will review their CVs.
Kumar said that even internationally, the professor emeritus position is not a permanent position. "...the decision (to ask for their CVs) was taken by the university's Executive Council," he said.
Former JNU VC Datta is an eminent molecular biologist and educationist who was conferred the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan, the country's third-highest civilian award, in 2008.
He is a recipient of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize and the Priyadarshini Award. Datta is an elected fellow of all three major Indian Science Academies as well as the "Third World Academy of Sciences". He was the eighth vice-chancellor of the varsity and the founder director of the National Institute of Plant Genome Research.
Professor Rajaraman did his PhD under Nobel laureate Hans Bethe, who had won Nobel Prize in Physics in 1967 for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. One of the 12 professors, who was sent a letter, said receiving it was a "surprise".
"I received the letter around a month ago and it was a surprise but I replied to it. The letter came as a surprise because when I was given the position, the letter handed over to me by the then vice-chancellor said it is a lifelong position," the professor, requesting anonymity, told PTI.
He also said, "I didn't accept posts at other places because I held the post here. It is a honorary post and there are no monetary benefits attached."
The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association (JNUTA) had said on Sunday that the JNU administration's decision to ask 87-year-old Thapar to submit her CV was "politically motivated".
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had also criticised the move.
Soon after the JNUTA statement, the university said it was following its ordinance "in letter and spirit" in the appointment of professor emeritus at JNU.
"As per the ordinance, the university is required to write to all those who have attained the age of 75 years to know their availability and willingness to continue their association with the university. Letters have been written only to those emeritus professors who fall in this category," it said.
It explained that these letters were written, not for discontinuance, but for an informed review by the Executive Council, the highest statutory body of the university, and it is consistent with the practices at other reputed universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Princeton University.
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Cash discovery row: Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma resigns
New Delhi (PTI): Embattled Allahabad High Court judge Yashwant Varma, who was facing heat after wads of burnt currency notes were recovered from his residence here last year, has submitted his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu, rendering the impeachment proceedings against him as infructuous.
The purported discovery of a huge stash of cash took place after a fire broke out at Lutyens' Delhi residence of Justice Varma, then a Delhi High Court judge, at around 11:35 pm on the night of Holi on March 14, 2025, prompting the fire department personnel to rush to the spot and douse the flames.
In a letter sent to the President on April 9, the 57-year-old Justice Varma said he was tendering his resignation with "deep anguish" and it was an honour to serve the office.
"Your Excellency, While I do not propose to burden your august office with the reasons which have constrained me to submit this missive, it is with deep anguish that I hereby tender my resignation from the office of Judge of the Hon'ble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, with immediate effect. It has been an honour to serve in this office," the resignation letter sent to the President on April 9 said.
The pending impeachment proceedings, intended to remove Varma from his office, becomes infructuous due to his resignation.
Consequently, a three-member inquiry committee comprising Supreme Court judge Justice Aravind Kumar, Madras High Court Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and senior advocate B V Acharya was conducting an inquiry, a condition precedent, before an impeachment motion.
Justice Varma's case saw many twists and turns after he refused to heed to the advice of then CJI Sanjiv Khanna to resign following two damning reports of judges.
Left with no option, Justice Khanna wrote to the President to proceed further to impeach Justice Varma.
He was later repatriated from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High.
The top court on January 16 had dismissed Varma's plea challenging the Lok Sabha Speaker's decision to admit an impeachment motion and the validity of a panel set up to inquire corruption charges against him, saying a provision in law cannot be used as a weapon to scuttle parliamentary proceedings.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla admitted a multi-party motion for Justice Varma's removal on August 12 last year.
In an unprecedented move, the apex court on March 22 last year had uploaded on its website an in-house inquiry report, including photos and videos, into alleged discovery of a huge stash of cash at the residence of Justice Varma.
On March 22, 2025 then CJI Khanna had constituted a three-member committee to conduct an inquiry.
Justice Varma had "unequivocally" stated that no cash was ever placed in the storeroom "either by me or any of my family members and (I) strongly denounce the suggestion that the alleged cash belonged to us".
Justice Varma was enrolled as an advocate on August 8, 1992. He was appointed as an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court on October 13, 2014. High Court judges retire at the age of 62.
He took oath as a permanent judge of the Allahabad High Court on February 1, 2016, before being appointed as a judge of the Delhi High Court on October 11, 2021.
A judge of a constitutional court can only be removed from office through an impeachment motion passed by Parliament.
