The Delhi High Court on Monday directed various authorities — including the Delhi Police, DMRC, MCDs, DU vice-chancellor, Union Home ministry, winning candidates of DUSU polls, the dean of students’ welfare, and the petitioner in the case of preventing defacement of public property during Delhi University Student Union election campaigning – to convene a meeting in order to devise a plan of action.
The court has also asked the winning candidates to place an action plan on how they proposed to clean the area and how future elections would be conducted. A bench of acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar issued the order while hearing the plea filed by advocate Prashant Manchanda, as reported by The Indian Express.
On Monday, the elected student representatives — including DUSU president Rocky Tuseed and vice-president Kunal Sehrawat — were in court. Stating that many of the defaced properties bore his name, the bench sought an explanation from Rocky. Counsel for Rocky told the court that they had carried out cleanliness drives in the North and South campuses — with the help of students and NGOs — to remove the graffiti and spray paint, irrespective of which candidate or political party had carried out the defacement.
The plea highlighted defacement of public property in Delhi University, properties within the jurisdiction of the MCDs and the Delhi Metro. It added that it was next to impossible to completely remove the defacement. The bench then directed the authorities to file a report of the meeting — to be held on 27th October at 3 pm at the dean’s office — on the next date of hearing on 28th November.
The bench has further said that defacement of public property was a cognizable offence, punishable with 10 years in jail. Rocky and the other candidates assured the bench that they would not do so in future.
Feature Image Credits: Hindustan Times
Ankita Dhar Karmakar
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