Candidates not required to deposit Rs 1 lakh to contest DUSU polls, varsity tells Delhi HC

The move comes against the backdrop of major students' groups condemning the varsity’s directive which mandated candidates in fray for the DUSU elections to deposit a Rs 1 lakh bond, to be made eligible to contest

Written by Sohini Ghosh

New Delhi | August 30, 2025 05:00 AM IST

Last year, during the DUSU polls, the Delhi HC had rapped the university for defacement during the elections and had postponed the declaration of results by a month (Archive)

The Delhi University on Friday told the Delhi High Court that students contesting the DU Students’ Union (DUSU) polls are not required to deposit money and the varsity shall accept an affidavit along with a security bond.

The move comes against the backdrop of major students’ groups condemning the varsity’s directive which mandated candidates in fray for the DUSU elections to deposit a Rs 1 lakh bond, to be made eligible to contest.

The DU’s submission on Friday, made before Justice Mini Pushkarna, was recorded by the court which then disposed of the petition by two students and DUSU poll candidate aspirants Anjali and Abhishek Kumar. The students had dubbed the varsity’s move as unconstitutional and argued that such a condition is akin to “preventive financial imposition”, thus creating an “arbitrary classification based on wealth”.

Last year, during the DUSU polls, the Delhi HC had rapped the university for defacement during the elections and had postponed the declaration of results by a month. In an order in November 2024, the High Court had recorded that DU, vide notification dated October 30, 2024, had constituted a ‘DUSU Election Reforms Committee’.

Among the reforms listed in the report by the committee was a bond “to be executed at the time of filing nomination paper to contest any post of office-bearer of College Union/DUSU for Rs. 1 lakh by the student for the act of any defacement during the course of study/election”.

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