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NAINY GOEL & ORS.  Vs JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY -Judgment by Delhi High Court

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$~261
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(C) 1310/2024

NAINY GOEL & ORS. …. Petitioners
Through: Mr. Abhik Chimni, Mr. Saharsh Saxena, Mr. Anant Khajuria and Ms. Riya Pahuja, Advs.

versus

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY ….. Respondent
Through: Ms. Monika Arora, Standing Counsel with Mr. Subhro Deep Saha and Mr. Ranjeet Kumar, Advs.
CORAM:
HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE C. HARI SHANKAR
O R D E R (ORAL)
% 30.01.2024

W.P.(C) 1310/2024

1. The petitioners were registered in M.Phil./ Ph.D. programs in the centres of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). From the date of their admission, the petitioners were receiving the UGC non-NET (National Eligibility Test) fellowships from the JNU. Thereafter, the petitioners qualified in the UGC NET examination and started receiving the UGC fellowship for JRF/MANF/NFSC/SVSGC/NFST from the UGC. The petition refers to this second fellowship as the �UGC Higher Fellowship� and this order also uses the same terminology.
2. As there was certain period for which both the fellowships overlapped, the overlapping amount was recoverable from some of the petitioners. The following tabular statement has been provided in the petition regarding the extent to which recoveries could be made from the petitioners:
S.No.
Petitioner
NON-NET Fellowship Period
UGC Higher Fellowship Period
Overlapping Period
Amount for Overlapping period (Approx. in ?)
1.
Nainy Goel
29.07.2016 to 31.12.2016
01.1.2017 to 31.12.2021
No Overlapping period
No Overlapping period
2.
Nitika Dhingra
31.07.2015 to 21.07.2017
29.05.2017 to 29.05.2022
29.05.2017 to 21.07.2017
12,871/-
3.
Datngenlut Suchiang
25.01.2022 to 31.10.2022
05.11.2022 to 05.11.2027
No Overlapping period
No Overlapping period
4.
Nitika Sharma
22.07.2018 to 19.09.2021
19.02.2022
To 19.02.2027
No Overlapping period
No Overlapping period
5.
IIyas Ahmad
08.08.2016 to 08.01.2017
06.01.2017 to 31.01.2022
06.01.2017
to
08.01.2017
500/-
6.
Jyoti Phulera
27.07.2013 to 05.01.2017
31.07.2018 to 30.07.2023
No Overlapping period
No Overlapping period
7.
Tarkeshwar Kumar
03.08.2015 to 05.01.2016
01.01.2016
to 31.12.2021
01.01.2016 to 05.01.2016
1,290/-
8.
Swapnil Sree
27.07.2017 to 18.02.2022
19.02.2022 to 31.05.2024
No Overlapping period
No Overlapping period
9.
Annu Devi
29.07.2016 to 31.12.2016
01.01.2017 to 31.12.2021
No Overlapping period
No Overlapping period
10
Shashi Prakash Singh
28.07.2015 to 30.09.2015
1.10.2015 to 30.09.2020
No Overlapping period
No Overlapping period
11.
Saket Kumar Arya
31.07.2015 to 29.11.2020
30.11.2020 to 30.11.2025
No Overlapping period
No Overlapping period
12.
Abdur Rahman
01.08.2016 to 15.09.2016
15.09.2016 to 15.09.2021
No Overlapping period
No Overlapping period
13.
Afsara Ayub
04.08.2015 to 21.11.2016
21.11.2016 to 21.11.2021
21.11.2016 to 28.02.2017
16,666/-

3. On the ground that, by virtue of Office Order dated 11 February 2008 issued by the JNU, it was not permissible to avail scholarship from the UGC or the Union Government for a period in excess of five years, the JNU recovered the entire UGC non-NET fellowship amount paid to the petitioners.
4. The writ petition points out that, as per the judgment of this Court in Sonali Bhatia v. Jawaharlal Nehru University1, a student could avail the UGC non-NET fellowship till the point where he qualified to get benefit under any other fellowship and recovery of the amount paid under the UGC non-NET fellowship could be made only to the extent there was an overlapping period during which the student received the amount under both the fellowships.
5. In its subsequent decision dated 22 December 2023 in Farah Shahin v. Jawaharlal Nehru University2, another Bench of this Court extended the relief in Sonali Bhatia to other similarly placed petitioners.
6. It is, therefore, submitted, on the anvil of the decisions in Sonali Bhatia and Farah Shahin, that the recoveries made from the petitioners in excess of the amounts shown in the table extracted in para 2 supra, be directed to be returned to them.
7. Mr. Saha, learned Counsel for the JNU fairly acknowledges that the dispute is covered by the decisions in Sonali Bhatia and Farah Shahin.
8. Accordingly, the JNU is directed to return, forthwith to the petitioners, the amounts recovered from them in excess of the amounts reflected in the table extracted in para 2 supra within a period of four weeks from today.
9. This petition stands allowed accordingly with no order as to costs.
CM APPL. 5366/2024
10. This application does not survive for consideration and is disposed of.

C.HARI SHANKAR, J
JANUARY 30, 2024
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Click here to check corrigendum, if any
1 Judgment dated 16 May 2023 in W.P.(C) 16713/2022, W.P.(C) 16770/2022, W.P.(C) 594/2023 and W.P.(C) 2086/2023,
2 Judgment dated 22 December 2023 in W.P.(C) 16704/2023.
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