Delhi University suspends scholar after professor assault
Delhi University has suspended a Faculty of Law PhD scholar and barred him from its premises after he allegedly assaulted a professor inside a campus building, prompting a police case and an independent university inquiry.
Shubham Singh, 31, was suspended with immediate effect following the incident at Umang Bhawan at about 10.30 am on Monday, August 17. The scholar, admitted to the Faculty of Law during the 2024-25 academic session, has also been prohibited from entering university premises while disciplinary proceedings are under way.
The professor has been identified as Anupam Jha, a Faculty of Law teacher who has served at the university for 23 years. CCTV footage of the episode shows a man waiting near the entrance before approaching the professor. The footage circulating online appears to show the confrontation developing rapidly, with others nearby attempting to intervene.
Delhi Police have registered an FIR at Maurice Nagar police station and begun an investigation. The university has separately constituted a three-member committee to establish the circumstances surrounding the confrontation and recommend further action. The committee is headed by chemistry professor Rajeev Gupta and includes professors Vipul Singh and Sudha Singh.
Jha has said he suffered an injury to his elbow and bruising to his hand during the episode. He said Singh was not his student and that interaction between them had been limited. Jha linked the dispute to an earlier encounter following Singh's PhD admission process, saying the scholar had confronted him in July 2025 over questions asked during an admission interview.
Singh has presented a different account of the background to the confrontation. He described his actions as stemming from accumulated frustration connected with the PhD interview process and questions raised during his admission attempts. Singh completed his LLB in 2020 and LLM in 2024 before enrolling for doctoral research at the Faculty of Law.
The scholar said his proposed research concerned the continuation of colonial-era approaches to relations between the state and religion. He said questions during the admission process about terminology used in the proposal had remained a source of dissatisfaction. The university inquiry is expected to examine these claims alongside CCTV material, accounts from those present and other evidence surrounding the alleged assault.
The disciplinary order was issued by the Office of the Proctor under provisions governing student conduct. University Proctor Manoj Kumar Singh confirmed that an inquiry had been ordered after the institution received CCTV footage relating to the incident. The entry ban was imposed under Ordinance XV-B, which provides the university with disciplinary powers in cases involving student misconduct.
The episode has intensified concern among Delhi University teachers over safety on campus. The Democratic Teachers' Front said suspending the scholar did not by itself adequately address the seriousness of the incident and called for swift disciplinary measures as well as enforceable safeguards to protect teachers from violence, intimidation and abuse.
The teachers' organisation said the assault should not be viewed as an isolated episode. It referred to another case in which Faculty of Law teachers were allegedly subjected to verbal abuse and argued that repeated incidents were undermining confidence among faculty members that threats or attacks would bring sufficiently strong institutional action.
Faculty groups have also pointed to an October 2025 confrontation at Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar College, affiliated with Delhi University, where Delhi University Students' Union joint secretary Deepika Jha was accused of slapping professor Sujit Kumar during a dispute. That incident was recorded on video and triggered protests by teachers as well as a university-level investigation.
Delhi University later imposed disciplinary action against Deepika Jha, while the episode remained a reference point for faculty organisations pressing the administration to adopt a firmer response to physical confrontations involving teachers. The Democratic Teachers' Front has now sought clear preventive measures and faster action whenever faculty members face violence or threats.
Shubham Singh, 31, was suspended with immediate effect following the incident at Umang Bhawan at about 10.30 am on Monday, August 17. The scholar, admitted to the Faculty of Law during the 2024-25 academic session, has also been prohibited from entering university premises while disciplinary proceedings are under way.
The professor has been identified as Anupam Jha, a Faculty of Law teacher who has served at the university for 23 years. CCTV footage of the episode shows a man waiting near the entrance before approaching the professor. The footage circulating online appears to show the confrontation developing rapidly, with others nearby attempting to intervene.
Delhi Police have registered an FIR at Maurice Nagar police station and begun an investigation. The university has separately constituted a three-member committee to establish the circumstances surrounding the confrontation and recommend further action. The committee is headed by chemistry professor Rajeev Gupta and includes professors Vipul Singh and Sudha Singh.
Jha has said he suffered an injury to his elbow and bruising to his hand during the episode. He said Singh was not his student and that interaction between them had been limited. Jha linked the dispute to an earlier encounter following Singh's PhD admission process, saying the scholar had confronted him in July 2025 over questions asked during an admission interview.
Singh has presented a different account of the background to the confrontation. He described his actions as stemming from accumulated frustration connected with the PhD interview process and questions raised during his admission attempts. Singh completed his LLB in 2020 and LLM in 2024 before enrolling for doctoral research at the Faculty of Law.
The scholar said his proposed research concerned the continuation of colonial-era approaches to relations between the state and religion. He said questions during the admission process about terminology used in the proposal had remained a source of dissatisfaction. The university inquiry is expected to examine these claims alongside CCTV material, accounts from those present and other evidence surrounding the alleged assault.
The disciplinary order was issued by the Office of the Proctor under provisions governing student conduct. University Proctor Manoj Kumar Singh confirmed that an inquiry had been ordered after the institution received CCTV footage relating to the incident. The entry ban was imposed under Ordinance XV-B, which provides the university with disciplinary powers in cases involving student misconduct.
The episode has intensified concern among Delhi University teachers over safety on campus. The Democratic Teachers' Front said suspending the scholar did not by itself adequately address the seriousness of the incident and called for swift disciplinary measures as well as enforceable safeguards to protect teachers from violence, intimidation and abuse.
The teachers' organisation said the assault should not be viewed as an isolated episode. It referred to another case in which Faculty of Law teachers were allegedly subjected to verbal abuse and argued that repeated incidents were undermining confidence among faculty members that threats or attacks would bring sufficiently strong institutional action.
Faculty groups have also pointed to an October 2025 confrontation at Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar College, affiliated with Delhi University, where Delhi University Students' Union joint secretary Deepika Jha was accused of slapping professor Sujit Kumar during a dispute. That incident was recorded on video and triggered protests by teachers as well as a university-level investigation.
Delhi University later imposed disciplinary action against Deepika Jha, while the episode remained a reference point for faculty organisations pressing the administration to adopt a firmer response to physical confrontations involving teachers. The Democratic Teachers' Front has now sought clear preventive measures and faster action whenever faculty members face violence or threats.