Not just leaders of various students' groups violated the lyngdoh Committee Recommendation during the election campaign with impunity with the authorities semingly fawning on them, but the Dehradun District magistrate Chandresh Kumar Yadav himself also trashed the same as he had postponed the students' union election by three days and gone for a magisterial inquiry into alleged irregularities involving distribution of college identity cards by the college staff members.
DM Yadav's hurt ego might have resulted in the postponement of the students' union election by three days in DAV (PG) College, according to the observers.
College election officer RK Pathak said that there was no issue of law and order coming in the way of the election.
The college administration had almost completed the preparations on September 9 for conducting the students' union election slated on September 10.
"We have not intimated the DM regarding any kind of disorder. We were bamboozled having found a letter from DM postponing students' union election by three days on September 9 evening (8pm)."
The 6.9 and 6.6.1 of lyngdoh Committee Recommendation on maintaining law and Order on the Campus during the Election Process stated that any instance of acute lawlessness or the commission of a criminal offence shall be reported to the police by the university/college authorities as soon as possible, but not later than 12 hours after the alleged commission of the offence.
Pathak further said as per lyngdoh Committee Recommendations, unless college writes a letter to DM regarding disorders in the college during election, the district administration cannot postpone the election arbitrarily even for a few days.
To redress complaints made by leaders of various students' groups about irregularities in distribution of college identity cards, college had formed a five- member grievance committee headed by Dean Social Welfare in tune with the lyngdoh Committee Recommendation. As per the recommendations, DM ought not to order a magistrate inquiry into matters like alleged irregularities in the distribution of college identity cards. All the complaints received during election should be addressed by the grievance committee as affirmed by the lyngdoh Committee.
However, DM Yadav on said, defending his contentious order, "If I have violated the lyngdoh Committee Recommendations the college should have ignored the order."
"A seasoned DM would not say that. How can the college authority trash an order issued by the administrative head of the districtIJ This implies either he was not aware of the nuances of the lyngdoh Committee Recommendations or he acted impulsively, perhaps to assert his ego in the face of challenge thrown to it," said an observer.
The DM further said he had taken all the decisions related to elections while
abiding by the
lyngdoh Committee Recommendations. "Taking cognisance of a complaint about irregularities in distribution of college identity cards by the leaders of various students' groups which caused disorders in the college campus, we have postponed the students' union election in DAV (PG) College for three days on Tuesday," he added
Yadav further said that he had held a meeting with the College staff members on Thursday evening. The college principal had told him that the students' complaints were redressed. There would not be any disorder in the college if elections are held on Saturday as per the principal. The
magistrate inquiry on alleged complaints would, however, continue and the officials have been directed to submit the report within 15 days,
he added.