A day after agitating students led by JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) illegally occupied the administrative block forcefully confining the varsity officials for hours within it, the Delhi High Court on Friday directed the students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to not to obstruct the Vice Chancellor and other staff from entering the administrative block in order to carry out their work.
The JNUSU is spearheading a protest against the mandatory attendance rule by the JNU administration. Students on Thursday blocked the administration block demanding a meeting with the Vice-Chancellor on the issue and stopped the rectors from leaving the building.
The High Court passed the interim order on JNU’s plea which said that the protest near the administrative block was hampering the day-to-day functioning, including the disbursal of salaries in connection with the Seventh Pay Commission.
Justice VK Rao said that the interim order would be in force for the next three days from Saturday and the university was at liberty to request police assistance to maintain law and order on the campus. The court, however, made it clear that the order “should not preclude” the students from peacefully protesting at the Sabarmati lawn on the campus away from the administrative block.
It also issued notice to the JNUSU and sought its response by February 20 on the university’s plea claiming that the High Court’s order asking them not to protest within 100 metres of the administrative block was being violated.
Meanwhile, a police case has been lodged against a group of JNU students for illegally confining two rectors at the administrative block while protesting against compulsory attendance, in the late evening on Thursday. The two officials could be taken out safely only after the security teams of the university intervened. JNUSU, however, denied any such confinement.
According to the police, they got a call from the security office of the university reporting the ruckus. However, when police arrived the matter had been settled. It was later on Friday morning that following a written complaint by the two rectors, Rector I Chintamani Mahapatra and Rector III Rana Singh, an FIR was lodged.
“A case has been registered against illegal confinement based on the complaint.
The matter is being probed. Students and other staff are being questioned,” said a senior police officer.
JNU has claimed that the ongoing protests on the university campus were in violation of the High Court’s August 9, 2017 direction to the students not to stage any agitation within 100 metres of the administrative block in which offices of top varsity officials including that of the Vice-Chancellor is located.
last year the varsity had moved the High Court when the students were protesting against the JNU’s admission policy based on a University Grants Commission notification slashing the seats for MPhil and PhD courses.
The last year’s order had come during the hearing of the JNU administration’s petition against the blocking of its administrative block by agitating students.
For confining top varsity officials inside the administrative building on Thursday by JNUSU for hours even as their health deteriorated, the JNU administration on Friday hit out at the students’ union alleging it of spreading “misinformation” and “false propaganda”.
“JNUSU often says that the JNU administration and the VC do not meet them. This is an absolute misinformation. The rectors, Registrar, Dean of Students, Chief Proctor keep meeting the JNUSU office-bearers often to discuss various issues. In these meetings sometimes, the Vice-Chancellor also joins,” said JNU administration.
The administration stated that for the administrative block siege JNUSU have openly given calls to the students through posters and social media to assemble in large numbers at the admin block.
“They made an unjustified demand that the Vice-Chancellor should address the belligerent and agitating students by standing on the stair case,” stated the JNU administration.
According to the JNU administration, when the health condition of one of the rectors turned serious with his blood pressure going up he was brought out of the administrative building and at that time it was JNU security who called the ambulance and not the JNUSU as claimed by it.
“The agitating students surrounded him and started hurling abuses. In that commotion, the rector fell unconscious and had to be carried to the ambulance. The ambulance too was surrounded by slogan shouting JNUSU led students who did not let the rector enter the ambulance,” said JNU administration in a release.
It further alleges that one of the protesters “pulled the keys of the ambulance” and tried to run away. “When one of the professors tried to stop this, he was pushed and as a result was injured. When the ambulance started to move, the agitating students started banging on the ambulance shouting “let him die”. One of the students pulled the steering wheel of the ambulance to prevent the driver from moving the ambulance forward.”
On the other hand, JNUSU says that in an academic community, the Head of the institution must have the ‘courage’ and ‘openness’ to meet students and teachers, respect their ‘overwhelming’ opinion and not dictate through media, court, police and punishments. JNUSU also refuted the claims that students ‘gherao’ the administration and prevented official from leaving the ad-block.