An intervention petition was filed by a visiting Professor, claiming that the Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) was attempting to get the approval of the court on their dispute with the Government on the pay scales.

A Division Bench, comprising Justice Ramesh Chandra Lahoti and Justice Mukul Mudgal, directed the respondents to file replies by August 5, the next date of hearing. The intervention petition was filed by Professor Nirmal Jain, who teaches Computer Science in the DU as a visiting Professor.

The court clubbed the petition with the one filed by the Akhil Bhartiya Vidharthi Parishad (ABVP), which had challenged strike by the DUTA during the recent examination and pleaded that the Court direct teachers to immediately resume examination duties. The strike was, however, called off by DUTA after the court took a serious view of it.

Professor Jain, in his petition moved through his counsel Shayam Moorjani, contended that the ABVP's earlier plea and submissions made by DUTA made it clear that they ``attempted to get approval of the court for something that could not have happened otherwise, despite the best efforts of the concerned parties.''

Terming DUTA's stir as ``blackmail'' tactics, Prof Jain alleged that the DU teachers had been trying for long to get their pay scales de-linked from the terms and conditions of service. Agencies add: Prof Jain claimed that DUTA was allowed to agitate for their demand of higher scales as recommended by the UGC while the only terms and conditions on them are provided in the Ordinance XII titled -- `college appointed teachers'.

The teachers could not be held accountable under the Ordinance and no code of conduct was laid down in it for them, Jain said, adding that the students had become the victim.

The application alleged that the teachers were more interested in the pay-packets and politics and had little concern for the students and their careers. Claiming that the attendance of students in various colleges were falling every year, Moorjani stated that the main reason for such low attendance in the colleges were the closure of the institutions every now and then because of DUTA's protests.

``Acceding to the monetary demands of the DUTA will cost Rs 500 crore every month to the Centre...which certainly requires to be accounted in terms of return ... That cannot be ensured without equivalent terms and condition and accountability on them,'' it said.