GMERS Ragging Death Case: Medicos Seek HC Relief Against Indefinite Suspension
Gujarat High Court
Ahmedabad: Challenging their "indefinite suspension", fifteen students of GMERS Medical College, Dharpur in Patan district have now approached the Gujarat High Court seeking relief.
These students were suspended after a first-year MBBS student at the institute had died, allegedly following a ragging session, in November last year.
Filing the plea before the HC bench, the students have argued that the suspension order is "contrary to the University Grants Commission's guidelines", as it was passed without hearing them.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported about the ragging incident at GMERS Dharpur. According to a statement of a first-year student, some junior students, including the deceased student, were forced to stand for around three hours and introduce themselves individually. They were also allegedly forced to sing and dance, utter abusive words and not leave the room.
Following this, the victim student's health deteriorated. He fainted and fell unconscious at around midnight. He was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.
The name of the accused students in this case emerged after the college authorities informed the anti-ragging cell of the matter. The committee, chaired by Dean Dr Hardik Shah, took the statements of 26 students- 11 first-year and 15 second-year students- and found that 11 first-year students were subjected to ragging by a group of 15 second-year students.
Consequently, the anti-ragging committee of the college passed an order on November 17, 2024 and suspended the 15 accused second-year MBBS students. The police also booked those 15 students and filed a chargesheet against them for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
As per the latest media report by the Times of India, more than seven months after their suspension, the suspended students have now filed petitins before the Gujarat HC praying to quash the order of suspension dated November 17, 2024 and they have also sought a direction to the medical college authorities to permit them to attend the classes and continue their academic activities and to allow them to take second-year exams.
They have argued that the suspension cannot be extended for an indefinite period as it puts the petitioners in limbo and affects their studies. Further, it has been argued that the suspension order was passed without issuing any show-cause notice, and allegedly, the inquiry was also conducted in a hasty manner.
On the other hand, filing an affidavit, the dean of the medical college has opposed the students' demand to allow them to participate in the academic activities by ending their suspension. It was argued that the suspension order was passed considering the pending police investigation.
Meanwhile, the counsel for the students, Asim Pandya, argued that the suspension itself is not a punishment, but an arrangement pending an inquiry. He submitted that the students spent nearly an academic year under suspension and the criminal case could take its own course. He suggested that the year-long suspension should be treated as punishment and the students would not object if they are considered debarred for the time of suspension.
After taking note of the preliminary arguments, the HC bench comprising Justice Nikhil Kariel asked the state govt to inform the court during the next hearing on what decision the anti-ragging committee intended to take regarding the punishment. Meanwhile, the Government's lawyer sought time to respond to the Court's query and the HC has adjourned the matter for further hearing till August 19.
