Police will check if Jadavpur University hostels are locked during Puja holidays, Calcutta HC orders

The court ordered that on October 15, the university authorities will hold a meeting at Nabanna with the state government to take a “final decision” on “security issues” in the university, including the installation of CCTV cameras. It sought a report on this matter to be submitted at the next hearing of the case.

“The university administration must ensure that no unauthorised person enters the University during the Puja vacations. If needed, assistance of the Jadavpur police may be sought in this regard,” the division bench of Justice Sujoy Paul and Smita Das De observed, while stating that hostels should be in use only after the university reopens on October 9.

The bench was hearing an ongoing public interest litigation into alleged law and order issues at the university. In March this year, PILs were filed after a section of students demanding campus elections allegedly climbed on state education Minister Bratya Basu’s car when he went to attend an event on March 1 and “heckled” him. The Minister’s car allegedly hit a student while leaving the campus.

Senior counsel Kalyan Bandopadhyay, appearing for the state, submitted that though the state “would not like” to send police inside any educational institution. However, incidents at Jadavpur University such as “severe ragging, targeting of Ministers and functioning of banned organisations” would “require police” presence.

Meanwhile, the counsel for JU submitted that police presence inside the university is not desirable, but that it would abide by court orders.

On March 12, Kolkata Police sought space from JU to set up a police outpost and barracks on the campus to “maintain a safe and secure environment… for smooth academic activities”. The Jadavpur police station officer-in-charge sent an email to the JU registrar saying the outpost was “essential”.

Invite Academicians, Not Political Figures: Court

A division bench of former Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam had directed JU to not invite any political functionary to the programmes organised on the campus. Instead, the high court said, the university should invite only academicians.

In August, a division bench of Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Smita Das De sought a report from the principal secretary of the state higher education department about measures the state government has taken to ensure the safety of Jadavpur University students. The state was to assess the requirement of security arrangements by the police on the campus, the number of CCTV cameras to be installed, and the places where they will be set up.

On August 11, the JU executive council decided to install 70 CCTV cameras on its campuses in Jadavpur and Salt Lake.

The counsel for the university had informed the court that JU held a meeting on August 11 and had drawn a budget of Rs 65 lakh for the CCTV cameras. The University had also said it would also seek suggestions from the principal secretary of the higher education department about installing the cameras.