Supreme Court - Daily Orders
Ayesha Jain vs Amity University, Noida on 26 February, 2026
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.531/2025
ITEM NO.19 COURT NO.13 SECTION X
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.531/2025
AYESHA JAIN PETITIONER
VERSUS
AMITY UNIVERSITY, NOIDA & ORS. RESPONDENTS
[TO BE TAKEN UP AT 3PM] [HEARD-IN-PART BY HON. AHSANUDDIN AMANULLAH AND HON. N.V. ANJARIA, JJ.] [IA No.18334/2026 - ADDITION/DELETION/MODIFICATION OF PARTIES IA No.27061/2026 - CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING IA No.30205/2026 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING AFFIDAVIT IA No.104611/2025 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T. IA No.26889/2026 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T. IA No.4259/2026 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T. IA No.7443/2026 - INTERVENTION APPLICATION IA No.173/2026 - INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT IA No.7444/2026 - PERMISSION TO APPEAR AND ARGUE IN PERSON IA No.176/2026 - PERMISSION TO APPEAR AND ARGUE IN PERSON IA No.27039/2026 - PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES IA No.26779/2026 - PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES] DATE : 26-02-2026 This matter was heard today. CORAM :
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AHSANUDDIN AMANULLAH HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE N. V. ANJARIA For Petitioners : Ms. Charu Mathur, AOR For Respondent(s) :Signature Not Verified Mr. Ashok K. Mahajan, AOR
Digitally signed by POOJA SHARMA
Mr. Amitesh Kumar, Adv.Date: 2026.03.11 10:43:32 IST Reason:
Ms. Priti Kumari, Adv. Mr. Pankaj Kumar Ray, Adv. Mr. Rajan Chawla, Adv.1
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.531/2025 Mr. Gautam Chauhan, Adv.
Ms. Archana Pathak Dave, Addl. Sol. Gen. Mr. Sudarshan Lamba, AOR Mr. Kamal Digpaul, Adv. Mr. Arkaj Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Abhishek Karnik, Adv. Ms. Harshita Choubey, Adv. Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, Aor, Adv.
Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General Mr. Parmanand Gaur, AOR Mr. Vibhav Mishra, Adv. Ms. Megha Gaur, Adv.
Ms. Manisha T. Karia, Sr. Addl. Adv. Gen. Mr. Parth Awasthi, Adv. Mr. Shantanu Krishna, Adv. Mr. Pashupathi Nath Razdan, AOR Ms. Maitreyee Jagat Joshi, Adv. Mr. Astik Gupta, Adv.
Ms. Akanksha Tomar, Adv.
Mr. P. V. Yogeswaran, AOR Ms. Shailja Singh, Adv.
Mr. Siddharth Dave, Sr. Adv. Ms. Pallavi Langar, AOR Ms. Pragya Baghel, Adv. Mr. Sujeet Kumar Chaubey, Adv.
Mr. Lokesh Sinhal, Sr. A.A.G. Mr. Samar Vijay Singh, AOR Ms. Sabarni Som, Adv.
Mr. Aman Dev Sharma, Adv. Mr. Gaj Singh, Adv.
Mr. Nikunj Gupta, Adv. Mr. Sarthak Arya, Adv. Mr. Yashvir Singh Hooda, Adv.
Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, AOR Ms. Prerna Singh, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Yadav, Adv.
Mr. Ajay Tewari, Sr. Adv. Mr. Siddhart Awasthy, Adv. Ms. Eliza Barr, Adv.
Ms. Disha Singh, AOR 2 WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.531/2025 Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv.
Mr. Samir Ali Khan, AOR Mr. Pranjal Sharma, Adv. Mr. Kashif Irshad Khan Faridi, Adv.
Mr. Bishwajit Dubey, Addl. Adv. Gen. Mr. Vinayak Sharma, Standing Counsel, Adv. Mr. Ravinder Kumar Yadav, AOR Mr. Yashvardhan Shah, Adv.
Mr. Shirin Khajuria, Sr. Adv. Ms. Bhavana Duhoon, AOR Ms. Swati Tiwari, Adv.
Mr. Vaibhav Srivastava, Addl. Adv. Gen. Ms. Sugandha Anand, AOR Mr. Bhargava Ravikumar, Adv.
Mr. Nishanth Patil, A.A.G. Mr. Sanchit Garga, AOR Mr. Awanish Gupta, Adv. Mr. Arijit Dey, Adv.
Ms. Bhumi Agrawal, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Gupta, Adv.
Mr. Jaideep Gupta, Sr. Adv. Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR Mrs. Anu K Joy, Adv.
Mr. Alim Anvar, Adv.
Mr. Santhosh K, Adv.
Mrs. Devika A.l., Adv. Mr. Riddhi Bose, Adv.
Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv. Mr. Shrirang B. Varma, Adv. Mr. Bharat Bagla, Adv. Mr. Sourav Singh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Aditya Krishna, Adv. Ms. Chitransha Singh Sikarwar, Adv.
Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv. Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv. Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv.3
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.531/2025 Mr. Amit Kumar (Sr. Adv.), Adv. Gen. Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR Mr. T.k. Nayak, Adv.
Ms. Marbiang Khongwir, Adv. Mr. Aditya Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR Mr. Shwetank Singh, Adv. Mrs. Riya Dhingra, Adv. Mr. Utkarsh Anand, Adv.
Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv. Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv. Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv. Ms. Yanmi Phazang, Adv.
Mr. Maninderjit Singh Bedi, Adv. Gen. Mr. Gaurav Dhamma, Adv. Mr. Siddhant Sharma, AOR Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, AOR Mr. Basava Prabhu S. Patil, Adv. Gen. (Sr. Adv.) Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR Mr. Rahul Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Arijeet Shukla, Adv. Mr. Aakash Thakur, Adv. Mr. Samarth Kashyap, Adv.
Mr. V. Krishnamurthy, Sr. Addl. Adv. Gen. Ms. Misha Rohatgi, AOR Mr. Nakul Mohta, Adv.
Mr. Amulya Upadhyay, Adv. Mr. Ayush Kashyap, Adv. Ms. Saushariya Hawelia, Adv.
Ms. Devina Sehgal, AOR Mr. Yatharth Kansal, Adv. Mr. Srikanth Varma Mudunuru, Adv.
Mr. Jatinder Kumar Sethi, Dy. Adv. Gen. Mr. Ashutosh Kumar Sharma, AOR Ms. Saakshi Singh Rawat, Adv.
Mr. Kunal Mimani, AOR Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor-General 4 WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.531/2025 Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, Addl. Sol. Gen. Mrs. Archana Pathak Dave, Addl. Sol. Gen. Mr. Satya Darshi Sanjay, Addl. Sol. Gen. Mr. Kamal Rattan Digpaul, Adv. Mr. Arkaj Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Abhishek Karnik, Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kr. Verma, Adv. Mr. Harish Pandey, Adv. Mr. Krishna Kant Dubey, Adv. Mr. Piyush Beriwal, Adv. Mr. Ankit Raj, Adv.
Mr. Mukul Singh, Adv.
Mr. Santosh Ramdurg, Adv. Mr. Yogesh Vats, Adv.
Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, AOR Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, AOR Ms. Aditi Agarwal, Adv.
Mr. Aravindh S., AOR Mr. Akshay Gupta, Adv. Ms. Anika Bansal, Adv.
Mr. Meenesh Dubey, Adv. Mr. Muhammad Maroof, Adv. M/s Dubey & Chandra Law Chambers, AOR Mrs. Aishwarya Bhati, Addl. Sol. Gen. Mr. Mayank Pandey, Adv. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Adv.
Ms. Shiivika Mehra, Adv. Mr. Shailendra Tiwary, Adv. Mr. Yogesh Vats, Adv.
Dr. N. Visakamurthy, AOR Mr. G S Makker, Adv.
O R D E R
Pursuant to Order(s) dated 11.02.2026 read with
25.02.2026, we find that the entire exercise of filing of affidavits, in terms of our previous directions, stands complied with.5
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.531/2025
2. Pursuant to exemption sought by the Chief Secretary, Government of Jharkhand from personally appearing today, an affidavit has been filed affirmed by him; however, the person in his stead is Mr. Avinash Kumar, Secretary, Department of Education, Government of Jharkhand. We have gone through the affidavit. Mr. Siddharth Dave, learned Senior Counsel, beseeched the Court not to go through the averments per se and rather consider his unconditional and unqualified apology as there may have been errors in drafting and, as such, the real import and intent may not be clear from the pleading in question. He submitted that without any ifs and buts, an unconditional and unqualified apology is tendered by the Chief Secretary, Government of Jharkhand. We accept the same.
3. The Chief Secretary, Union Territory of Ladakh is present and has tendered an apology for not filing an affidavit within the prescribed and even the extended timeline. We accept the apology.
PART-A:
4. Moving on, we hereby nominate Dr. R. M. Sharma, a former Indian Legal Service officer, who has previously distinguished himself whilst serving as Additional Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Law & Justice, Department of Legal Affairs and Chairperson, 6 WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.531/2025 Adjudicating Authority under the Prevention of Money- Laundering Act, 2002. He is currently Chairperson, Child Safety Monitoring Committee constituted by Order dated 27.09.2023 passed by the Delhi High Court in W.P. (Civil) No.10542/2023 (Court on its Own Motion v Government of NCT of Delhi) and shall undertake the task delineated hereinafter. He shall be at liberty to constitute a team of competent persons (not exceeding four in number) to help him with the task. The Ministry of Education, Government of India shall provide adequate space and other secretarial and/or logistical support to the team, as may be required and asked for by Dr. R.M. Sharma, including transport. The Commissioner of Police, Delhi shall provide adequate security, as and when needed, to Dr. R.M. Sharma and his team. On the next date, this Court shall decide the honorarium for the services of Dr. R. M. Sharma and his team. The team should comprise members of proven integrity and expertise.
5. Dr. R. M. Sharma, along with his team, is requested to assist the Court by going through all the affidavits which filed, and prepare a detailed Consolidated Note with regard to the issues flagged by this Court in its previous Orders vis-a-vis what is reflected from the ground reality as disclosed in the affidavits filed on behalf of the respective parties.
7 WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.531/2025
6. Dr. R. M. Sharma and his team is also requested to submit a Preliminary Report with regard to the issues, which as per them, would be relevant for the Court to focus on.
7. The Registry shall provide soft copies of the affidavits filed by the respective Governments and the University Grants Commission to the said team of Dr. R. M. Sharma, by 16.03.2026.
PART-B:
8. At this juncture, a Brief Note has been handed over to the Court by the petitioner, through learned counsel Ms. Charu Mathur. We have cursorily perused the same. The issues and facts disclosed therein pertain to the original issue(s) leading to the filing of the writ petition. The allegations in the Brief Note require strong notice thereof to be taken. Considering the nature of averments, the said Brief Note shall be kept strictly under sealed cover on the records of this case. Since the Brief Note contains facts and allegations, we would require the petitioner to support the same by way of affidavit. Copies of the same Brief Note, duly supported by affidavit, be filed under a sealed cover through the Court Master by tomorrow/27.02.2026. The same shall be taken on record and kept in sealed cover. The sealed cover shall not be opened without specific leave of this Court, by anyone, including 8 WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.531/2025 the Registry and not shared with anyone.
9. For the purpose of holding a Preliminary Enquiry, we nominate Mr. Ashok Prasad, a distinguished former officer of the Indian Police Service having served, inter alia, as Director-General of Police, erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir and Director General, Special Operations, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Mr. Ashok Prasad shall be at liberty to constitute a team, of upto 3 persons, for assisting him in the task assigned, including a Lady Member and a person having appropriate legal expertise/experience. The said persons should be of proven competence and integrity who should not be amenable to any influence from any quarter whatsoever. The Ministry of Education, Government of India shall provide adequate space and other secretarial and/or logistical support (including a stenographer/typist and Office Assistant) to the team, as may be required and/or asked for by Mr. Ashok Prasad, including transport. The Commissioners of Police, Delhi and Gautam Buddh Nagar (Uttar Pradesh) shall provide adequate security to the team.
10. Learned counsel for petitioner, Ms. Charu Mathur, is requested to contact Mr. Ashok Prasad, contact details whereof shall be communicated by the Court Master to her. Mr. Ashok Prasad would be supplied a copy of the Brief Note, with Affidavit, by the learned counsel for the 9 WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.531/2025 petitioner. Mr. Ashok Prasad and his team are requested to keep the contents thereof as also the details of their enquiry totally confidential. They are requested to record the version of the petitioner and conduct a Preliminary Enquiry with regard to the averments made in the Brief Note. We grant full liberty to Mr. Ashok Prasad apropos the manner and modalities in which such Enquiry is to be conducted. However, it is made clear that all concerned entities/individuals, private or otherwise, including respondent no.1 shall fully cooperate in the same. The expenses incurred, by way of honorarium, for the said purpose will be borne by respondent no.1.
11. For the present, respondent no.1 shall deposit a sum of Rs.2,00,000/- (Rupees Two Lakhs) with the Registry of this Court on/before 17.03.2026. Disbursal of the said amount to await further Orders of this Court. Honorarium will be fixed on the next date.
12. Mr. Ashok Prasad is requested to submit a Preliminary Report and also his opinion in the matter, in a sealed cover, especially if the Court is required to issue more directions, and if so, to suggest the appropriate course of action. In the event it transpires that an actionable cause has been made out, Mr Ashok Prasad and his team shall also indicate what criminal offence(s) and/or civil wrong(s) are made out, and against whom. Any other 10 WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.531/2025 assistance required by them shall be fully complied with by the authorities concerned. If any request is made to the Commissioners of Police described supra, we expect them to aid and assist the team promptly.
DIRECTIONS COMMON TO PART-A AND PART-B:
13. List on 15.04.2026 at 3.00 PM.
14. It is clarified that the nominated persons and their teams shall function as Officers of the Court and proceed unhindered. Any attempt by any person/authority to influence them shall be dealt with strictly. Time spent on the work shall be counted as full-time duty, if the persons nominated by Dr. R. M. Sharma and Mr. Ashok Prasad are government servants. It shall be open to Dr. R. M. Sharma and Mr. Ashok Prasad to seek any clarification/directions, if so required, to facilitate/complete the tasks assigned, by way of appropriate application.
15. This Order be communicated to the Ministry of Education, Government of India and the Commissioner of Police, Delhi through Mr. Satya Darshi Sanjay, learned Additional Solicitor General, who appears on behalf of the Ministry of Education as well as the Ministry of Home Affairs and to the Commissioner of Police, Gautam Buddh Nagar through the learned counsel for the State of Uttar 11 WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.531/2025 Pradesh. All directions be strictly complied with by the Officers/Authorities.
16. The Officers/Authorities concerned shall depute a suitable person from their side to coordinate with Dr. R. M. Sharma and Mr. Ashok Prasad. The deputed person shall contact Dr. R. M. Sharma and Mr. Ashok Prasad for coordination etcetera. Details of Dr. R. M. Sharma and Mr. Ashok Prasad shall be communicated by the Court Master to Mr. Satya Darshi Sanjay, learned Additional Solicitor General and the learned counsel for the State of Uttar Pradesh.
MISCELLANEOUS:
17. We are informed that costs of Rs.10,000/- as directed vide Order dated 11.02.2026 have been deposited by the State of Arunachal Pradesh and proof filed with the Registry.
18. As per the Office Report, the State of Sikkim has not filed proof of deposit of costs of Rs.10,000/- in terms of Order dated 11.02.2026. Learned counsel for the State of Sikkim submits that he has filed an application* in respect of the said cost, seeking waiver. Such application, if any, is summarily dismissed. Costs be deposited and proof thereof filed on/before 17.03.2026.
19. The Chief Secretary, Union Territory of Ladakh and Chief Secretary and Secretary, Department of Education, 12 WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.531/2025 Government of Jharkhand are exempted from personal appearance, for the present.
(POOJA SHARMA) (KOMAL) AR-CUM-PS COURT MASTER (NSH)
*We are informed that as per the ICMIS, no application has been filed by/for the State of Sikkim. The Office Report indicates that only Written Submissions have been filed.
(Encl: Two sealed envelopes) 13