Student editor of Stephen's Weekly suspended

St Stephen’s College on Wednesday suspended a student till April 23 because he challenged the principal’s decision of imposing a ‘ban’ on Stephen’s News Weekly, which he helped found.

A college inquiry had last week found student editor Devansh Mehta guilty of launching the digital newspaper without getting approval of the principal. He was also accused of mobilising “the media without exploring the possibility of resolving the issue within the college”.

The inquiry committee had reported that that there was “no ambiguity” that the students would publish the digital newspaper with the consent of the principal.

“Whereas Devansh Mehta of 3rd year Philosophy (Hons) has been found guilty of breaching the discipline of the college by the one-man inquiry commission, the report of which is posted on the college website, he is suspended from the college with immediate effect till April 23, 2015. During the pendency of his suspension, the campus of the college in its entirety shall be out of bounds for him,” order of suspension issued by the principal Valson Thampu says.

The suspension comes after Mehta refused to tender an apology letter, sources claim. Since the student has refused to give in to principal’s demand, one of the options available for him is to approach court for redressal.

Following the inquiry report, the principal had stripped the student editor of a prize which he was supposed to receive later this week, saying that he was guilty of misconduct. The move had sparked protest from college teachers who argued that it was a vindictive action on the part of the part of Thampu.

Mehta was selected for the Rai Saheb Banarsi Das Memorial prize by the college faculty for showing a high standard of personal conduct and marked degree of curricular and co-curricular interaction. He was due to receive the prize from the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is going to be the chief guest at the college award function.

Sources claim that other awardees might not accept the award at the college function in support of Mehta .