DU teacher Samia Rahman’s demotion illegal, says HC

The High Court on Thursday declared that the decision of Dhaka University (DU) to demote its teacher Samia Rahman on charges of plagiarism in research papers was illegal.

The HC bench of Justice Zafar Ahmed and Justice Md Akhtaruzzaman passed the order after hearing a rule on legality of demoting the Dhaka University teacher, reports UNB.

It also asked the DU authorities to reinstate Samia to the post of associate professor with all previous facilities.

Barrister Hasan MS Azmi stood for Samia while deputy attorney general Nauroz Md Russel Chowdhury represented the state.

The DU syndicate committee downgraded Samia from associate professor to assistant professor on January 28 last year as punishment for alleged plagiarism in a research paper.

On August 31, 2021, Samia filed a writ petition challenging the legality of the decision of the university

On September 5, 2021, the High Court issued a rule asking the government to explain as to why the demotion of Samia should not be declared illegal.

The court also asked the DU Vice Chancellor and others involved to respond to the rule within four weeks and instructed them to submit all the documents against Samia within 21 days.