The Calcutta High Court has directed the West Bengal government to issue an order to close all student union rooms in colleges and universities across the state until student elections are conducted.
A division bench of Justices Somen Sen and Smita Das directed the Higher Education Department to issue notices to all colleges and universities. The court directed that these rooms should be locked and cannot be used for any kind of recreational activities.
“If there is any urgent need, a formal application with valid reasons must be submitted in writing to the university registrar,” the court further said.
No student union elections have been conducted in any college in the state since 2017. As a result, no official student councils currently exist.
In March, Education Minister Bratya Basu was allegedly assaulted by students on the Jadavpur University campus over the delay in student union elections. The minister’s car was vandalised, and he was physically manhandled.
Earlier this year, Calcutta University decided to keep all student union rooms across its campuses locked until the student elections were conducted.
The university claimed the union rooms had become the hotbed of turf wars between groups of students, leading to law and order problems on the campus.
In fact, the in the student union room of the South Calcutta Law College before being assaulted again in the guard’s room.
The prime accused, Monojit Mishra, was associated with the student wing of the Trinamool Congress. Even though no student union elections have been held since 2017, Mishra maintained a stronghold on the campus.
Sources in the college told India Today that between students and local political figures.