Pre-poll debates should not be limited to varsity elections: Delhi High Court

“Why should debates be limited to JNU elections only? You should take it beyond,” the court had suggested to Congress leader Salman Khurshid. (Representational Image)

Pre-poll debates need not be limited to student body elections in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and it should be taken beyond that, the Delhi High Court has said. Justice Siddharth Mridul had posed the query to Congress leader and senior advocate Salman Khurshid on Monday during hearing of a JNU student’s plea challenging cancellation of his candidature for the post of president in the upcoming students’ union elections in the varsity.

“Why should debates be limited to JNU elections only? You should take it beyond,” the court had suggested to the Congress leader. Pre-poll debates among candidates is a part of presidential elections in several countries, like the United State of America, Russia and Mexico. The debates are often televised live. The suggestion from the high court came after it was told a pre-poll debate was scheduled to be held on September 12 prior to the JNU election on September 14.

The court had stayed the JNU’s decision to cancel candidature of Vikas Yadav, the NSUI nominee for the post of president in the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU). Yadav’s candidature was cancelled allegedly for non-payment of the Rs 20,000 fine imposed on him for selling pakodas inside the campus in protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comment that selling snacks could be considered as an employment option, his plea said.