Shut All Hostels During Puja Vacation: Calcutta High Court Tells Jadavpur University

The Calcutta High Court on Friday directed the Jadavpur University administration to ensure that it closes down all hostels on the university campus for the ongoing puja vacations.

A division bench of Justices Sujoy Paul and Smita Das De passed the order. 

"The pro vice chancellor and registrar must ensure that the hostels are closed for puja vacations. The Officer in Charge of the Jadavpur Police station shall inspect the same. University administration must ensure that no unauthorised person enters the University during the Puja vacations. If needed, assistance of the police may be sought in this regard," it held.

The court was hearing an ongoing public interest litigation into the law and order issues at the University, after a first-year student was killed due to alleged ragging last year.

Petitioners stated that police presence on the campus of the University would be needed to curb such incidents.

Senior Advocate Kalyan Bandopadhyay, appearing for the state, submitted that while the state would not prefer sending police into an educational institution, incidents at Jadavpur, such as severe ragging, targeting of ministers and functioning of banned organisations, would merit police presence.

Counsel appearing for the University submitted that police presence at the University would not be desirable, but the University would abide by court orders.

Accordingly, the court directed all the parties to convene a high-level stakeholder meeting to discuss the law and order issues at the University, in order to arrive at a comprehensive solution.

Case No: WPA(P)/444/2023 SUDIP RAHA

Case: JADAVPUR UNIVERSITY AND ORS.