Seeking a review of the lyngdoh Committee Recommendations (lCR), more than 200 students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University gathered outside the Supreme Court protesting against the guidelines and submitted a memorandum to Chief Justice of India.
During a mass deputation carried out outside the apex court on Wednesday, students criticised the judiciary for arbitrarily imposing the lCR, which bound the universities across the country under strict rules for carrying out elections which were “undemocratic”.
“In 2008, they (SC) stayed our election for four years for not abiding by the lCR but we later accepted an interim arrangement to vacate the prolonged stay under which we followed the guidelines but with certain relaxations. These recommendations which do not have the consent of the university students are highly undemocratic and forcefully imposed. We want to carry out elections under the framework of the JNU Constitution and not by any other authority,” said Akbar Chawdhry, president of JNUSU adding the model of students’ union should be decided democratically and not by any higher authority.
The memorandum, signed by over 2,500 students of JNU, was submitted to the Registrar of the Supreme Court seeking a review of the committee recommendations. According to a JNUSU member, the guidelines forbade repetition of candidates contesting election i.e. one cannot contest more than once in central panel which somewhere "reduces the accountability of the person."