Court asks JNU to take back students evicted from hostel

Justice S Ravindra Bhatt expressed anguish over the action taken of varsity officials who “hurriedly” threw out the three students at 1 am on the ground that a disciplinary inquiry was pending against them for unruly conduct. “How can you pass such an order against the students? Where will they go?” asked Justice S Bhatt. The court directed the university to complete the inquiry within a week.

“The order (of the warden) should not be given effect till the inquiry is complete. The students are entitled to stay in the hostel,” the court said.

The three students — Santosh Kumar Pathak,Austosh Singh and Shashi Shankar Singh — alleged that the senior warden’s order to vacate the hostel was illegal. The order came after a scuffle which had erupted in the hostel at night. The counsel for the students,advocate Monica Arora,submitted that the scuffle took place on March 17 at a meeting held to discuss a North Indian food festival.