The Delhi High Court has refused to set aside the recently held elections of Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) on a plea by several law students who were allegedly prevented from casting their votes.
The court said no direction can be issued for setting aside the election at this stage as the polls have already been held and asked the Grievance Redressal Cell (GRC) to act in accordance with the J M Lyngdoh Committee's report on the complaints received by the students within 24 hours.
"Since the election of the Delhi University has already been held and the petitioners admittedly were not candidates, no direction can be issued in this petition setting aside the election by this court at this stage," Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said.
The court's order came while deciding two separate petitions by several students of Law Centre I of Faculty of Law, Delhi University. The students claimed that when they attempted to cast their votes, they were prevented from doing so.
The students, who sought to re-conduct the elections, submitted that no reason was communicated to them as to why they were prevented from casting their votes.
The DUSU elections were held on September 12 and the results were declared the next day with the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) winning three posts, including that of the president, and the student wing of Congress, NSUI, bagged the secretary's post.
Some of them had given representations/complaints to the GRC and thereafter, sent an email but no communication has been received and no action has been taken on the complaints, they said.
The court noted that as per the Lyngdoh Committee's report, since the students have given representations to the GRC, it is obligatory on the part of the GRC to act on their complaint within 24 hours either by dismissing it or by calling a hearing.
"Since the petitioners (students) have made complaints to the GRC, in the first instance the GRC is liable to be directed to act in accordance with Para 6.8.4 of the Lyngdoh Committee's report.
"The petition is, accordingly, disposed of with a direction to the GRC to act in accordance with Para 6.8.4 of the Lyngdoh Committee's report," it said.
The court added that it would be open to the GRC to pass an appropriate order in terms of the Lyngdoh Committee's report, if any merit is found in the complaints without being influenced by anything stated in the order.
The court clarified that it has neither considered nor expressed any opinion on the merits of the claim of the students.
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