This is your fault: Delhi High Court halts DUSU poll counting

The Delhi High Court on Thursday pulled up Delhi University for “lack of will” to act against DUSU election contestants indulging in vandalism and defacement of public properties. The court put on hold the counting of votes for the elections that are being held on Friday, reported TOI.

“This court directs that election process may proceed yet no counting of votes shall take place either on DU (Students’ Union) elections or on college elections till this court is satisfied that posters, hoardings, graffiti and spray paints are removed and public property is restored,” a bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela directed after a lengthy hearing.

The HC said that it would allow the DUSU elections to go ahead but halted the counting the court is satisfied that the defacement of property has been removed, including the material such as posters, hoardings and graffiti.



Further, the HC directed DU to cough up expenses incurred by the civic authorities, including MCD and Delhi Metro, in removing the defacement and added that the varsity may recover the amount from the candidates later.

“Delhi University has to bear the cost for this. Civic agencies can’t be made to suffer due to this. You (DU) are not doing anything; you don’t have a system in place. DU was merrily going around with whatever was happening. This is your failure as you didn’t supervise, so you pay up,” the bench said after damages were flagged by advocates Pushkar Sood for DMRC and Sanjeev Sabharwal for MCD.

“DU should have said that I am helpless, I am coming to court, you please help me in this. You never came. You are allowing the standards to fall,” the bench remarked as it pointed out the varsity, where lakhs of students are studying, is not able to deal with the 21 candidates and added that the problem was “lack of will and lack of courage.”


The HC was surprised that the DU could not handle the 21 students. “If you do not know how to discipline them, then who else will know this? These are all people who are pursuing higher academics, you can say he's no longer my student. That's the end of it. What will he contest? What will he win? You don't know how to handle them.”

“You don't know how to deal with 21 people. They are bringing a bad name to the university. How can you allow this to happen? You have to exercise your powers, you don’t have to be scared of anyone,” the bench said, listing the matter for further proceedings on October 21.

The counsel for DU submitted that out of the three options suggested by the court on Wednesday, the counting of votes can be withheld.

The HC was hearing a plea that sought action against the prospective DUSU candidates and student outfits involved in damaging, defacing, soiling or destroying the beauty of public walls.

Petitioner advocate Prashant Manchanda also sought action against those involved in damaging classrooms, thus denying the citizens a clean and beautiful environment and surroundings free from defacement as well as depriving the students of their right to education.

A group of students of DU had, in the meanwhile, also moved court highlighting the nuisance, disruptions and other activities such as defacement of public property under the guise of DUSU polls.