The Delhi High Court on Monday sought a response from a Delhi University professor on former vice-chancellor Deepak Pental’s plea seeking a stay on the trial in a case of alleged plagiarism, cheating and forgery filed against him. Justice VP Vaish sought the reply of DU professor P Pardha Saradhi, who had accused the former VC and his students, of plagiarising his paper on biotechnology and publishing it as their own.
The court asked Saradhi to file his response within four weeks and listed the matter for further hearing on February 20, 2015. Sixty three-year-old Pental has been accused of cheating and misappropriating some genetic material from the university’s science lab. Pental, who has challenged the trial court’s summon issued to him, has already been granted interim bail on November 25 by both the lower court and the High Court.
Saradhi, who was issued a notice earlier on Pental’s plea, urged the court to direct the former VC to supply him all the documents related to the petition filed in the court. Taking note of Saradhi’s plea, the court directed Pental to give the missing documents. Advocate Praveen Kumar Singh, who appeared for Saradhi, had earlier said that the private complaint was filed in the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate here in 2009 alleging that Pental had allured post-doctoral research student KVSK Prasad and they had plagiarized Saradhi’s paper and published it as their own between 2000-2002.
Pental, the vice-chancellor of Delhi University in 2005- 2010, and Prasad were made accused in the complaint. Saradhi was a professor of environmental science in the Delhi University.