STATE OF RAJASTHAN Vs. SARITA CHOUDHARY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Pursuant to the directions of this Court dated 18th August, 2003, the Secretary Education, the Director College Education and the Registrars of all the three Universities are present in person. The respective parties have submitted their compliance reports, which we have perused.

(2.) The question involved in the instant Special Appeal as recorded in the order dated 3-4-2002 is as follows:

(3.) It was noted that the State Government with a view to bring reforms in the election process and to make functioning of the Students Union more rational, issued directions under memorandum dated 17-8-2000 to all the Government and private Colleges whether affiliated or not affiliated with the Universities or whether receiving grant-in-aid or not, to provide the eligibility criteria for contesting the elections and other matters connected therewith in the Constitution of the Institution governing the election and functions of the Students Union. The State Government provided restrictions under Clause 6 for the students contesting election. It was observed that the object of the restriction is to discourage the students to continue in the Institution only for the sake of contesting the election. With the past experience, it was observed that such candidates are found to pollute the atmosphere of the College or the Universities. This Court issued notice to Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur and Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University, Ajmer as well as to the Presidents of Students Union for all the three Universities. While the State of Rajasthan as well as the said three Universities filed their reply arid furnished the requisite information to this Court, hone of the Students Union putin appearance and placed their point of view jefore the Court. On the basis of the material placed and deliberations, this Court by order dated 23rd July, 2002 while directing the State Government to prepare a common Code of Conduct for Students Union of the said Universities and their constituent Colleges for free, fair and impartial elections to enforce discipline and to ensure growth of the responsible citizens for development of the Country, issued wide ranging directions. In addition to the Educational authorities viz. the Vice-Chancellors of all the three Universities, the Secretary, Higher Education and the Director, College Education, this Court also directed the Collector cum District Magistrate as well as the Superintendent of Police to oversee the compliance of the orders of this Court. After elections, the compliance reports were submitted by the respective parties. The interim directions issued by this Court were found to be useful, as the Students Union elections went on peacefully in all the three Universities and the affiliated Colleges except an unfortunate incident in Bikaner. It was reported that in the Dungar College, one Shri Shivlal Godara, the NSUI candidate won the election and after election, tension emerged on account of procession in which one person died. Number of persons including 14 police officials were injured. For the Academic Session 2003-04 even before declaration of the Election Programme, some of the overenthusiastic students started election campaigning not only in disregard to the Code of Conduct for Students Union Elections but in utter disrespect to the orders of the Court. It is reported in the newspaper that in District Jhalawar, four students lost their lives during campaigning for Students Union Elections. Thus, this Court by order dated 7th August, 2003 issued notice to the Secretary, Education Department and Registrars of all the three Universities. By interim order dated 18th August, 2003, holding of election of Students Union in all the three Universities as well as the affiliated Colleges of the said Universities has been stayed. As none of the Students Union have put-in appearance, we are deprived of the benefit of knowing their point of view on a subject of wide ramification i.e. the Code of Conduct for Students Union Election. However, we had an occasion to read a loose observation from one of the students claiming himself to be the Students leader, appearing in one of the newspapers to the effect that holding of Students Union Election is a fundamental right in democracy and one can not be deprived of such right. We would have appreciated the appearance of such student with a view to learn from his wisdom. It is a misnomer that right to election in a democracy is a fundamental right. It is well established law that a right to election is not a fundamental right but a statutory right. It further depends upon the construction of the various provisions of a particular Statute giving such right. Recently, the Kerala High Court on a petition filed by Sojan Francis, an SFI student and Second Year Degree Student of St. Thomas College, Pala Kaottaiyan, put complete ban on political activities of a college or university campus having ruled that the ban on election of Students Union does not involve "negation of fundamental rights". We have our own reservations as to the correctness of the ruling given by the Kerala High Court. However, it appears that the Honble Judges constituting the Division Bench while giving the said ruling had noted the spiralling campus violence. It was recorded that in the recent years in the State of Kerala, the C.P.M. backed Students Federation of India (S.F.I.) lost thirty of its leaders in Union clashes and the students wing of the Congress Kerala Students Union about 10. The BJP Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) saw three of its student activists drowned in the Pumba river following a campus skirmish. It was observed that the University and the Colleges are worst hit by campus politicking and violence. The things went to the extent that the bright students shun the college. It is observed that the castism and mafia culture has been imported in the campus by the students supported by few selfish teachers. It is also observed that such students are also financed by the political parties. We make it clear that we have no intention to say that there should be a complete ban on holding Students Union Election or contesting elections under the banner of political party. The majority of the students in the College Campus are above 18 years of age and they can not be denied organisational freedom. The Colleges are training Campus for the future politicians. But as we have already observed in our earlier order that the Students Union is a laboratory of the democratic governance, we further make it clear that we disapprove the Campus Violence and not Campus Politics . In our view, the Campus Politics need be cleansed of violence and educational institutions should not be allowed to become laboratories of political parties.