The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed Jadavpur University (JU) administration to not invite any political functionary to programmes organised on the campus. Instead, the High Court said, the university should invite only academicians.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam issued the directive to the JU on a PIL seeking the court’s intervention for safety and security on the campus in the wake of the March 1 incident in which state Education Minister Bratya Basu’s vehicle was allegedly damaged by protesting students. A student was allegedly injured by a vehicle in the minister’s convoy.
During the hearing, the petitioner, Biswaroop Bhattacharya, demanded the installation of CCTV cameras and a permanent police outpost on the campus. “Our demand is that the university needs to be protected. The prevailing situation is unbelievable. Ministers are being attacked. Something has to be done regarding the security at the university… the state should come to the rescue of the university,” Bhattacharya said.
“There is an interim V-C (vice-chancellor). Classes are being held, but some of them are being disturbed… Outsiders and certain organisations are disturbing the classes. RSS is functioning inside the campus,” the petitioner told the court.
Appearing for the West Bengal government, senior counsel Kalyan Banerjee told the court that JU has become “famous for all the wrong reasons in recent years”. “The trouble in JU has been going on for a long time. It is being done by students as police can enter the campus only when the authorities make a requisition for it. This problem has become a chronic disease in JU,” the state’s counsel said.
He claimed that following the June 2024 incident of a ragging death on the campus, the government had provided CCTV cameras, but they were taken away by students. “Police cannot enter the campus on their own… When they (university authorities) fail to control the situation, the blame comes to us (the government),” Kalyan Banerjee told the Bench, also comprising Justice Chaitali Chatterjee.
“The V-C (Bhaskar Gupta) does not inform us about the safety measures adopted. They want to be popular with students, including unruly ones,” the state’s counsel said.
Riju Ghosal, the counsel for the Jadavpur University, told the High Court that during a virtual meeting of Interim V-C (Bhaskar Gupta), Pro Vice-Chancellor (Amitava Datta) and Registrar (Indrajit Banerjee) of the university on March 15, measures were taken to improve security on the campus. It was decided at the meeting that three entrance gates – Gate Number 5, 1 and 3, will remain shut with entry to be allowed only from side gates. “It was decided that only authorised cars with stickers will be allowed to enter the campus. The visiting cars will have to leave the campus before 7 pm,” Ghosal said.
However, the Chief Justice asked the JU’s counsel why the varsity was “reluctant to use the assistance of the state”.
On being informed that the JU hires private agencies for security inside the campus, the Chief Justice to the JU’s counsel: “Tell me how the university maintains security on its campus. The internal security is of no use as they cannot frisk or carry weapons. Why is the university reluctant to accept the assistance of the state? The situation has escalated. So, ask for the deployment of special forces to maintain law and order. You need to flush out people who are no longer students.”
The court questioned whether private security agencies can provide sufficient security for the campus, students, teaching and non-teaching, and administrative staff.
Citing registration of 23 FIRs in the past 10 years at the JU, the High Court observed: “A doubt has arisen in our mind taking into account the large number of FIRs registered since 2014 at Jadavpur police station concerning the university and matters connected therewith.”
The court directed the university to file an affidavit within three weeks on the implementation of security measures on the campus.
The court observed that the university need not be reminded that no person except a student is entitled to enter the university or stay in the hostel, and if so, it should be with the due permission of the authorities.
The bench said that the university should not say that it cannot control the ingress and egress of persons on the campus.
With PTI Inputs