‘Go back to your classes’: HC asks Punjab University protesters to prioritise academics amid plea for Senate poll schedule

The petitioners, who are former Senate members, argued that the university has been without its two statutory governing bodies – the Senate and the Syndicate – since late 2024, leaving “all administrative powers” with the vice-chancellor. The court was informed that the university had repeatedly stated that it had forwarded the election schedule to the chancellor, who is the Vice-President of India, but “no approval has been granted”, even though the Punjab University Act “does not contemplate any such approval”.

The agitation among the university’s students and faculty was attributed to this vacuum. “There has been one year of delay. Six schedules were sent between December 2023 and June 2024. The Act itself prescribes that the schedule must begin 240 days before polling,” the counsel informed the bench, reading from sections 11, 13 and 20 of the Punjab University Act, which vest the varsity’s management and superintendence in the Senate and the Syndicate.

The Centre, represented by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Satya Pal Jain, said the government had already withdrawn the recent notifications that restructured the Senate after student protests. He informed the court that the university was “processing the election schedule” and that it involved a large exercise, with “3.50 lakh registered graduate voters” spread across Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh.

ASG Jain said the issues raised in this petition were identical to those in a number of connected matters listed for December 16. He added that the Centre “wants to hold the elections” and was considering the entire process, but pointed to the ongoing unrest on campus. “For elections, you need a cordial atmosphere,” he said, adding that the final schedule was likely to be placed before the court on December 16.

During the hearing, the bench pressed the petitioners on the ongoing protests. “Please go back to your classes,” CJ Nagu remarked at one point, prompting the counsel to clarify that the petitioners were former senators, not students. The court observed, “Why are students these days so interested in elections? They are there to study. Education is being imparted, allow that to happen.”

When the counsel argued that the absence of elected bodies was impairing administration, the bench asked which was more important for the university at this stage: examinations or elections. “Exams indeed are important,” counsel responded, but maintained that only an undertaking to notify the schedule within a reasonable time would end the agitation.

ASG Jain said the Centre would file its reply in the matter before December 16. The bench indicated that while it could request the chancellor to act “expeditiously”, it could not fix a timeline beyond what the statute itself prescribes. The matter was thus disposed of.

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