Two Public Interest Litigations have been filed at a Calcutta High Court division bench of Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam and Justice Chaitali Chatterjee (Das) regarding the security of students and the “issue” of a students’ election in Jadavpur University.
Both the petitioners have been asked to file the PILs after they were heard on Monday. The matters are likely to be taken up on Thursday.
During the hearing on Monday, one of the counsels submitted that the security of students is of concern after an incident on Saturday. Protests against State Education Minister Bratya Basu at Jadavpur University (JU) in Kolkata had turned violent.
Counsel Shubham Das said in court, “The vice chancellor of the university has failed to provide security to the students. Security arrangements should be made for the students of Jadavpur University. Like medical colleges, there should be a police outpost in Jadavpur University. A committee for Jadavpur University should be formed with a former Judge of the Supreme Court or Calcutta High Court and security should be provided by the CISF or armed police.”
The Chief Justice said, “I am not the administrator of Jadavpur University. File a case. The court will judge later.”
Meanwhile, alleging police over-involvement and inaction in the wake of the unrest at the university, a petition was moved at a Calcutta HC single bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh.
It was submitted in court by counsel Shamim Ahmed on behalf of the students that “a total of seven FIRs have been filed in connection with the incident that day. Two of them were filed by the police. The remaining five were filed by various organisations of the ruling Trinamool Congress. However, police have not accepted any complaint from the Left student organisations. On the contrary, now they are being harassed in their messes in the name of search. Panic is being spread.”
The matter is likely to be heard on Tuesday.
On Saturday, West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu’s vehicle was allegedly attacked inside the university by students while the Minister was attending a meeting of the teachers’ association.
Students had demanded a meeting with Basu over students’ union elections, which have been withheld for five years. When Basu refused to engage with the students, the protests turned violent. They continued as Basu sat inside the campus, waiting for the students to disperse. It was alleged that the Minister’s convoy ran into students who had gathered outside the car.
Shoes were allegedly thrown at his car, the windshield allegedly broken, and slogans raised. Soon after, unidentified miscreants set fire to a portion of the university’s employees union office, which is affiliated to the ruling TMC. A former JU student was arrested for alleged arson. On Sunday, he was produced in a court and remanded in police custody till March 12.
The Minister was taken to the state-run SSKM Medical College and Hospital for a medical examination. While he alleged the attack was led by the Students Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), SFI members alleged the Minister’s vehicle had driven over them.
Basu was visiting the university on Saturday for a convention of the West Bengal College and University Professors’ Association (WBCUPA), a body affiliated to the Trinamool Congress and having over 3,000 members.