DUSU polls: Student wing membership not association with political party, says HC

Court tells authorities to ensure polls remain free of interference and participation of people associated with political parties

2 min readNew DelhiSep 16, 2026 07:45 PM IST

The DUSU polls are scheduled for Friday. (File image)

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday held that mere membership of a student union, backed by a political party, would not be considered as an association with the party for contesting as a candidate in the upcoming Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) elections.

The DUSU polls are scheduled for Friday. A public interest litigation (PIL) moved before a division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia flagged violations of the Lyngdoh Committee’s recommendation and the DUSU Constitution, which recommend disassociation of student elections and student representation from political parties. The Lyngdoh Committee had made recommendations for conducting free and fair campus elections following directions issued by the Supreme Court in 2006. The recommendations were subsequently implemented as guidelines for conducting campus elections.

In the PIL, Vijeta, a DU student, argued that the shortlisted candidates are to be considered as members of political parties and directly governed by the ideology of those parties since “student wings are wings of political parties”. The PIL sought that the upcoming DUSU elections be cancelled — which the court refused.

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The PIL also referred to official announcements made by student outfits, including the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and All India Students’ Association (AISA), for the candidates being fielded by them. Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP), the Aam Aadmi Party’s student wing, in its announcement, also branded its own party name, unlike the rest.

“We find that a particular candidate is proclaiming his candidature to the post of president but also indicates his association with a political party. It also bears the election symbol given. Such activity needs to be checked by the university authorities and the Chief Election Officer,” the court recorded.

The bench also asked the university authorities as well as the Chief Election Officer of the DU to ensure that the polls remain “completely free of interference and participation, even remotely, of persons associated with political parties”.

Further reiterating that all norms for conducting free and fair polls must be complied with, the bench disposed of the petition, recording: “Any failure by authorities in implementation of these provisions cannot be approved.”

Sohini Ghosh

Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court Professional Profile Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express. Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare). Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others. She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020. With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles: High-Profile Case Coverage She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots. She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy. Signature Style Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system. X (Twitter): @thanda_ghosh ... Read More

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