Upset over the defacement of public property during the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday said the vice chancellor should take strict action, including annulment of the polls, or defer them till all the defacement is removed.
A bench of Chief Justice Designate Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said crores of rupees were prima facie being spent by candidates and orally asked the university vice chancellor to step in and take strict action. People are "behaving like illiterates" in a place of learning, the court said and added the election system is not there to corrupt the youth.
The bench suggested that the university should defer the elections, scheduled for September 27, or disqualify the candidates and start nomination afresh or should allow polling but not declare the results till all the defacement is removed.
The university counsel, on instructions of the chief election officer of the university who was present in the court, urged that the matter be taken up on Thursday as the authorities plan to take a decision on it by then.
The court then listed the matter for further hearing on Thursday and directed the Delhi Police to cooperate with the Delhi University, Municipal Corporation of Delhi and Delhi Metro to ensure that no further defacement of public property takes place and the defacement already done is removed.
“Look at the amount of defacement done. The vice chancellor should act on this and if it takes annulment of elections, let it be done. Let all the money spent go into drains. Whosoever's poster is there, send the bill to him,” the bench said.
Going through photographs of the defacement of public property, the bench said the situation during the DUSU polls was worse than the general elections.
It observed that elections are a festival of democracy and not of laundering money and said, “this amounts to corruption. If the students end up getting corrupt at this stage, there is no end”. “People have so much money power in these elections. It is a festival of democracy and not a festival of laundering of money. This is laundering of money, which is going on. These are some crores being spent here.
“The election system is not to corrupt the youth. The use of this amount of money in students' union elections is corrupting the students right at the inception. In a place of learning, people are behaving like illiterates. Only an illiterate can behave like this. Delhi University is doing nothing. Take stringent action so that these people get to know that they cannot get away like this. This shows there is no dearth of money. Let the vice chancellor call a meeting today itself,” an annoyed bench said.
Justice Manmohan observed, “This is done by a literate group or is it an illiterate group doing this? This sort of defacement and all will be done by someone who is illiterate. I think this is the failure of our education system and these activities should be dealt with heavy hands.”
“You tell them to first clean it up, it must be repainted, restored and then you allow elections to take place,” the court said. The court was hearing a plea seeking action against the prospective DUSU candidates and student political outfits involved in damaging, defacing, soiling or destroying the beauty of public walls.
Petitioner Prashant Manchanda, a practising advocate, also sought action against those involved in damaging classrooms, thus denying the citizens a clean and beautiful environment and surroundings free from defacement as well as depriving the students of their right to education.
