Jawaharlal Nehru University on Tuesday approached the Delhi High Court, seeking contempt proceedings against students and the police for allegedly violating the court’s August 2017 order banning protests within 100 metres of the institution’s administrative block, PTI reported.
This came a day after hundreds of students were stopped from marching towards Parliament to protest against the university’s decision to hike hostel fees.
The contempt petition was filed by JNU Registrar Pramod Kumar through its standing counsel Monika Arora. It claimed that the university had come to a standstill as a result of the protests. Kumar sought punishment against the protestors in accordance with the Contempt of Courts Act.
Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union President Aishe Ghosh, General Secretary Satish Chandra Yadav, Vice President Saket Moon, and former students leaders N Sai Balaji, Geeta Kumari, Sarika Choudhary, Apeksha Priyadarshani, Krishna Rao were among those named in the petition, according to IANS.
The university named the police in the petition for allegedly failing to take action against the protestors and not removing the blockade around the administrative block, according to PTI. The institution urged the court to direct Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik to assist it with controlling protests from now on.
Earlier in the day, the Delhi Police registered two first information reports in connection with Monday’s protest march. One FIR was registered against unknown protestors for allegedly violating prohibitory orders, obstructing police officers from discharging duties, and causing hurt. The second FIR was filed for the alleged damage caused to public property at Aurobindo Marg in South Delhi. According to the police, almost 30 police personnel and 15 students were injured during the eight-hour protest.
The protests and the police action caused an uproar in Parliament as the Opposition accused government of using force to suppress students, who have been protesting for the past three weeks against a draft hostel manual that also has provisions for a dress code and curfew timings.
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