Delhi HC refuses to vacate stay on DUSU poll counting

The Delhi high court on Monday refused to vacate its earlier order barring vote-counting in the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) elections until public defacement caused during the election campaign was fully cleaned up.
A bench of chief justice Manmohan and justice Tushar Rao Gedela refused to vacate the stay, after the counsel for the two candidates who contested for the post of vice-president in Campus Law Centre-2 and secretary in Ramjas College urged the court to permit counting, on the grounds that students’ interests were being affected.
Expressing displeasure over the manner of defacement and heavy spending on campaigning, the court said that it wanted to send a message that their expenditure could “go down the drain”.
“Unless and until the whole place is cleaned up, we are not ordering counting. These people (candidates) must realise that their expenditure can go down the drain also. You please clean up. If they are going to be lead by people who are doing what they are doing, these are persons who are not in front but at the back, we can’t help it, very sorry. If they can bring a tractor, JCB, all this they can use up for campaigning, they can also clean up. Leaders can’t be these people who have spent such money. These (candidates who have incurred huge expenditure) seem to be predominant. Tomorrow, if they clean up, the results will be announced,” the bench said to the counsel appearing for the two candidates.
The court was responding to a plea filed by advocate Prashant Manchanda seeking action against prospective candidates involved in defacement. On September 26, the court allowed DU to proceed with the polls on September 27, but halted the counting of votes, with a rider that it would be done only after defaced public property was restored.
Although the bench acceded to the university’s request to go ahead with the polls, it asked the varsity to pay for the expenses incurred by civic agencies, including the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), for cleaning the defaced properties.
On October 9, the court asked candidates who contested the polls to clean the defacement, indicating that it would permit counting of votes the next day, if the public property is restored.
In its status report on October 19, filed through advocate Mohinder JS Rupal, the university said that more than 90% of the colleges/department/institutions/centres have made their campus free from defacement. The university’s four-page status report also added that it created two subcommittees to coordinate with colleges about the status of defacement in their respective institutions and assess expenditure incurred. It also stated that the DUSU election committee had issued a notice/advisory to prospective candidates, advising them to remove the defacement made to the public and private properties, and comply with the high court’s orders.
Counsels for MCD and DMRC, however, said DU should be asked to pay or deposit ₹1 crore on account of expenses incurred by MCD in cleaning defaced property.
During the hearing, Manchanda, however, disputed DU’s stand regarding the removal of defacement and placed on record various videos and photos, alleging that posters and graffiti had not been removed. He further submitted that candidates, during campaigning, used unnumbered vehicles, JCBs and tractors, which clogged the national highways.
Considering the contention, the court reprimanded the university for failing to act against candidates resorting to hooliganism and using unnumbered vehicles and warned of passing a “speaking order” in case the university’s vice chancellor permitted them to do so. The university, the court said, had no will to act, adding that there was an administrative failure on its part.
“This message has to be sent to them. The university has to do something. This video has been shown to you. The candidates are disrupting the national highway, if even doesn’t happen for municipal elections, these are college elections. It creates an impact. You are being insensitive, can we permit the students to do hooliganism on highways? The problem is with Delhi University. You cannot let down the whole society. Someone will have to bear responsibility for this. You please bring it to the notice of the vice chancellor (VC), else we will pass some speaking order. What have they done? What is the participation that they have done? It appears that there is no remorse at all, if they were so clean in their heart, they would’ve themselves come,” the bench said to advocate Mohinder JS Rupal, who appeared for the university.
It added, “The university has to act, if the university does not act, what will happen? There is no will for the decisions to be (implemented). Please bring it at the notice of the VC that it is not a happy situation. It is an administrative failure that has happened and he must take remedial steps. Problem is at your end. We can’t say. if you get it cleaned up, we are not anyone to stop.”
Consequently, the court issued notice to the candidates including Raunak Khatri, Aman Kapasiya, Aryan Mann, Rahul Jhansla, Rishabh Chaudhary, Rishiraj Singh, who carried major defacement, to explain their conduct and fixed October 28 as the next date of hearing.