Plagiarism case: Delhi Court grants exemption to Deepak Pental

New Delhi: Delhi University's former Vice Chancellor Deepak Pental, who is accused in a case of forgery, cheating and plagiarism along with another person, was on Saturday granted exemption from personal appearance for the day by a court in New Delhi on health ground.

Link Metropolitan Magistrate Richa Gusain Solanki allowed the separate pleas moved by Pental and co-accused KVSK Prasad seeking exemption from personal appearance for Saturday.

Exemption application has been moved by both the accused (Pental and Prasad) same are allowed. Put up for August 19," the court said.

Pental's counsel sought the relief saying his client was suffering from cervical spondylosis. The counsel for Prasad moved a similar plea saying he was a researcher and was presently in the US.

The exemption applications, however, were opposed by the counsel for DU professor P Pardha Saradhi, complainant in the case, saying the accused were granted bail in the case and they should not misuse the liberty.

Advocate Praveen Kumar Singh, who was appearing for the complainant, said both the accused should appear in the court for hearing and by moving such pleas they were trying to delay the proceedings.

The case file is in Delhi High Court for a hearing on July 23 on the pleas of Pental, Prasad and Sarathi challenging trial court's orders.

Pental and Prasad, who face allegations of plagiarising DU Professor Saradhi's paper on biotechnology and publishing it as their own, had moved the high court seeking quashing of the trial court summon issued on November 18, 2013 and also to stay the proceedings in the case.

63-year-old Pental has been accused of cheating and misappropriating some genetic material from the university's science lab on a complaint filed by Saradhi, now a professor of Environmental Studies with Delhi University.

Pental, who has challenged the trial court's summons issued to him, was granted interim bail on November 25 last year by both the lower court and the High Court.

Saradhi's lawyer had earlier said a private complaint was filed in 2009 in the court here alleging that Pental had allured post-doctoral research student Prasad and they had plagiarised Saradhi's paper and published it as their own between 2000- 2002.

Pental was the Vice Chancellor of Delhi University in 2005-2010.