Ensure no outsiders on campus: HC to Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri Law College
Telegraph | 7 February 2025
Justice Jay Sengupta of Calcutta High Court on Wednesday asked the authorities of Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri Law College to take all possible steps so no outsider could enter the college premises without prior permission.
The judge disposed of a petition moved by the students alleging that outsiders were preventing them from holding Saraswati Puja on the campus.
The judge disposed of the petition after receiving a compliance report from police about Saraswati Puja on the campus.
Last Friday, the court ordered that the puja be conducted under the supervision of a joint police commissioner of Kolkata Police following a petition by some students of the law college.
Although the police report on Wednesday said the puja was celebrated peacefully, the students alleged that they had been receiving threats from “outsiders”.
At this, the judge asked Biswarup Bhattacharyya, the counsel appearing for the students, to ask his clients to lodge complaints with Charu Market police station.
The judge also asked the college authorities to ensure that no outsiders could enter the campus and disposed of the petition.
The principal of the college, Sudeshna Goyenka, said: “We are yet to get the court order. Once we get a copy, it will be tabled before the college governing body so that necessary action can be taken. Saraswati Puja was held on the campus with the usual fanfare.”
“We share our campus with another college (Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri) on Prince Anwar Shah Road.”
Students of the law college had alleged that Mohammad Shabbir Ali, Trinamool Congress leader and a former student of Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri College, which is a general degree college on the same premises, tried to prevent them from organising the puja.
Asked about the allegations levelled by the students, principal Goyenka told Metro: “The students are well within their rights to move the court. Let the appropriate forum deal with the issue.”
The state higher education department on Tuesday appointed power minister Aroop Biswas president of the governing board of Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri College in place of Debasish Kumar, MLA and a mayoral council member of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
Education minister Bratya Basu had visited the law college on Sunday and heard the students’ allegations regarding their fear of “outsiders”.