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The Hindu
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
HC tells W.B. to file affidavit on resuming student union polls
The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the West Bengal government to file an affidavit within two weeks on the resumption of student union elections and urged the State to issue a notification to initiate the election process promptly. The verbal order was given during a hearing of a 2023 public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Sayan Banerjee. In the PIL, Mr. Banerjee had petitioned for the resumption of student union elections across public universities in West Bengal, as well as the reinstatement of anti-ragging committees. Notably, student union elections came to a halt across higher education institutions in West Bengal a little before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Earlier this year, students of Jadavpur University staged protests demanding holding of elections, which have been withheld in the institution for five years. 'This is a positive step towards the restoration of a democratic atmosphere in the State's higher education institutes. Student union elections must be expedited. Without that various problems have arisen, including the unchecked reign of terror by former office-bearers. Many of them have graduated but continue to exert their influence on college campuses as outsiders,' Mr. Banerjee told The Hindu. He added that in response to the government's counsel stating that many higher education institutions currently do not have a Vice-Chancellor (V-C), the court urged the State to begin elections in universities where a V-C is present. Earlier this month, hearing another PIL by Mr. Banerjee, the High Court had directed the State government to lock up union rooms in colleges where there was no recognised student body or where student union elections had not taken place recently. 'The State government is willing to conduct student union elections, and politically, the student wing of Trinamool is ready for fresh union polls. However, for various challenges like the pandemic and the change in the semester system in colleges due to the National Education Policy 2020, the State hasn't been able to conduct elections so far,' Trinamool Congress spokesperson Debangshu Bhattacharya said. Political influence The court on Thursday also observed that the governing bodies of higher education institutions in the State should be freed from political influence and should include renowned academicians. Currently, several Trinamool leaders are part of the governing bodies of many public universities. Notably, Trinamool MLA Ashok Deb heads the governing body of South Calcutta Law College, where Monojit Mishra, an ex-student and a temporary employee, has been accused of raping a student. Mishra also had strong ties to the ruling dispensation. 'In various State commissions, the West Bengal government has tried to minimise political influence by appointing renowned public intellectuals to head them. In case of governing bodies in educational institutions, I believe there is no harm in including Trinamool leaders who have been academics in the past, like Bratya Basu and Saugata Ray. They understand administration, the pulse of common students, and also have experience in academia,' Mr. Bhattacharya said.
India Today
07-07-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Why Calcutta High Court wants student union rooms in Bengal locked down
A landmark court order in the backdrop of the gang-rape of a woman inside the security guard's room at the South Calcutta Law College could well reshape how college student unions now function in West Bengal. The Calcutta High Court has directed the immediate closure of all student union rooms in state-aided colleges and universities in the July 3 order came on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to draw the court's attention to alleged systemic irregularities in the management of student unions across institutions in Bengal. The petitioner, advocate Sayan Banerjee, cited an earlier affidavit submitted by the senior law officer and ex-officio assistant secretary (law department of higher education) in the Bengal government. The affidavit revealed that in many universities, no elections had been held in recent years and that, in some cases, student councils or unions were pointed out that despite this, 'union fees' continued to be collected from students and that union rooms were open and accessible—even when no recognised student bodies were in existence. 'No student council or student union is there, but the room is there Union fees are being collected from students,' Banerjee argued before the high court bench. He also presented an RTI response from the state's higher education department, which confirmed that no functioning student councils existed in any of the state-run PIL was filed after the gang-rape at South Calcutta Law College on June 25. According to the complaint, the assault started inside the students' union room, where the prime accused, Monojit Mishra, a former student of the college, allegedly attacked the survivor before dragging her to the security guard's room and raping her. Despite no longer being enrolled in the college, Mishra reportedly continued to wield influence in the campus. Students claim former student union members and alumni maintained access to the union room, raising serious questions about security and institutional high court division bench of Justices Soumen Sen and Smita Das De expressed grave concern and questioned why student union rooms were widely accessible when no legitimate student bodies existed. 'All union rooms in state-aided colleges and universities will be shut till further orders,' Justice Sen ruled. 'The state higher education department must issue a notice in this regard. Authorities must keep the union rooms locked. The rooms cannot be used for any recreational activities. In case of an emergency, a written application must be made to the registrar to open the room.'The bench directed the higher education department to circulate a directive to all colleges and universities stating that where no recognised student union existed or no recent elections had taken place, the students' union rooms be locked. Entry to these rooms would only be allowed with written permission from the registrar or a competent authority, and such access must clearly specify the purpose of the this exception does not extend to general recreational or common rooms used by the South Calcutta Law College specifically, the court ruled that the students' union room should remain accessible solely to the investigating agency until further orders. In the courtroom, the state's senior counsel Kalyan Banerjee attempted to distance the government from the gang-rape, arguing that the administration had no control over how outsiders gained access to colleges. 'The college has to impose restrictions; we have nothing to do with this. We do not know if the rooms are used by the students,' he the court took a firm stance, asserting that the responsibility of security and onus of oversight lay with the institutions and the higher education department. 'In some universities, no election has taken place. We direct the department of higher education to give a directive to all colleges and universities that all student union rooms be put under lock and key,' the order court also addressed the broader security lapses at the South Calcutta Law College, directing the government to submit an affidavit explaining how unauthorised individuals were able to access the campus. The college authorities have been asked to file a report outlining their security on PILs filed over the gang-rape, the court demanded a progress report on the police investigation. According to the state counsel, the Kolkata police acted swiftly: the prime accused was arrested within three hours of the FIR being filed, by a team of women officers from the special investigation team (SIT).However, the survivor's lawyer, Arindam Jana, raised concerns that she had not been made a formal party in the proceedings despite being central to the case. And outside the courtroom, the survivor's father told the media: 'My daughter is under tremendous trauma. We have full faith in the Kolkata police and the SIT. The accused should get maximum punishment. There are no words to describe what we are going through.'The ruling has sparked intense debate about student governance and campus safety in Bengal. Critics point to systemic failures in the democratic functioning of student bodies. With student elections not held in years and alumni allegedly exercising unchecked influence, many are questioning how such a vacuum was allowed to persist—and what safeguards were needed the case unfolds, the high court's orders are likely to serve as a legal precedent and a reminder of the urgent need for institutional reform and genuine student representation across Bengal's colleges and to India Today Magazine- Ends
