The Delhi High Court on Friday expressed displeasure over the use of luxury cars like Bentley, Rolls Royce and Ferrari, and even JCBs, for campaigning in the Delhi University student body elections. The high court noted the candidates and organisers hadn’t learnt any lesson from the previous year’s judicial order that withheld poll results owing to nuisance and defacement of public property. “It is very tragic, a sad commentary on the state of affairs, a sad commentary on our democratic functioning of the society, a sad commentary on the democratic functioning of the institutions here.
“What can be worse than such kind of campaigns in students union elections. The use of JCBs, big and luxury cars, four wheelers, this is unknown. From where do they get such big cars -- Bentley, Rolls Royce and Ferraris? How are the students getting this? We haven’t even heard of these cars,” a bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said. According to sources, the high court issued notices to newly-elected DUSU president Aryan Mann of the ABVP and vice president Rahul Jhansla of NSUI.
Others include Secretary Kunal Chaudhary and Joint Secretary Deepika Jha. Both belong to ABVP. The high court said elections of students union -- be it students union of Delhi University or its other affiliated colleges -- had become an yearly feature and the way these polls had shaped over the years was a “cause of concern for every responsible institution and citizen”. The bench added, “It appears that students have not learnt a lesson from last year’s order.... Sabse zyada niraash to hum students se hai (We are most disappointed with students),” the bench said. It also lauded Delhi Police for its cooperation with the university.
In 2024, noting the defacement done by the candidates and their supporters, the high court halted the results till all the defacement material, including posters, hoardings and graffiti, was removed and public property was restored. During the hearing, the bench was informed that the results of elections, which were held on September 18, have been declared. The court referred to its September 17 order by which it had barred candidates and student organisations of Delhi University from taking out victory processions anywhere in the national capital after the declaration of results of DUSU polls.
Advocate Prashant Manchanda, the petitioner, shared several photographs and news reports with the bench and claimed violations despite the judicial order and the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations. The court directed that seven students who were the candidates in the elections and were served with showcause notices by the university be impleaded as parties to the proceedings.The court issued notices to these student candidates and asked them to respond while fixing the matter on November 6.
It further impleaded as parties two news channels and directed them to furnish the video footage of coverage of university elections done by their correspondents.The court also asked the channels to preserve the video footage of election coverage. The bench also took strong exception to the candidates replies given to the university on the showcause notices in which they denied any defacement to public property. “Not even a single admission by these candidates. It seems as if the petitioner has photoshopped the photographs and placed before us,” it said.
The court had earlier said steps were needed to be taken to stop use of muscle and money power in DUSU elections. Manchanda raised concerns over the violation of guidelines and rules to ensure that the DUSU elections were held in an orderly manner. After examining the photos and videos, the bench prima facie found several violations during the ongoing student campaigns on campus. While polling was held on September 18, the vote counting was done on Friday. Manchanda’s plea sought action against the prospective DUSU candidates and student outfits involved in allegedly damaging, defacing, soiling and destroying public walls.
