The Delhi high court on Thursday pulled up Delhi University, the Delhi Police and student organisations over their failure to prevent alleged violence and vandalism during campaigning for the Delhi University Students’ Union ( DUSU ) elections, observing that allowing student polls to take on a violent character was unacceptable under any circumstance.
The court observed that although Delhi University and the Delhi Police had repeatedly assured it that all necessary steps would be taken to prevent such incidents, material placed on record through an application filed by advocate Prashant Manchanda presented a different picture. “No excuses will be accepted by the court. Though we are not staying or postponing the elections, if we are not satisfied with the status reports we can pass harsher orders including stopping the counting and postponing the result. It is very very sad. If you are unable to control the situation, we know how to get it done. This cannot be permitted. Do not take the issue lightly. This kind of recklessness, this kind of criminal behaviour, criminal conduct… We cannot permit this. It’s a clear failure of law enforcement agencies, administrative agencies. We are more than conscious that we are a democratic society, but we are also conscious that this democracy can’t be converted into a criminal society. It added, “The authorities of the university as well as the Delhi Police have been assuring the court on various occasions that they shall take all steps warranted to ensure that such incidents do not occur. However, the material placed before us through the application depicts a picture where there appears to be complete failure on the part of authorities, students to ensure smooth elections of DUSU. Permitting the elections of the student union to take a colour as depicted in the material is unacceptable at any cost. The court issued the directions while hearing Manchanda’s application seeking directions to Delhi University and other authorities to ensure compliance with the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations.
Students union in the university/colleges are said to be nurseries of democracy, and therefore the democratic process involving this needs to be strengthened.
A bench of chief justice DK Upadhyaya and justice Tejas Karia directed the Delhi Police and the university to file reports by Friday detailing the action taken in connection with the incidents, saying democracy could not be allowed to be converted into a “criminal society”. What has the law enforcement agencies and administrative agencies been doing?” the court said.
