HC refuses to lift restriction on DUSU poll counting, summons candidates

The High Court here on Monday refused to allow the counting of votes for the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) polls, noting that candidates are yet to pay for defacing public property across the city ahead of the elections on September 27. The court also asked several candidates to appear before it on October 28.

Criticising the blatant use of the “money and muscle power” during the elections, the High Court on September 26, a day before the polling, had ordered not to declare the results until candidates restore the defaced public property and pay the expenses incurred on it.

Hearing a petition, the court said the university is yet to recover the amount from the candidates while the public property damaged ahead of the polls is still looking shabby as a large number of posters, hoardings, banners and graffiti are “yet to be removed and boundary walls of a number of colleges still to be repainted”.

It made the remarks keeping in view the photographs and videos submitted to it by the petitioner in the case.

During the hearing, the counsel for Delhi University handed over a status report claiming that “more than 90% of the colleges/ departments/ institutions/ centres have made their campus free from any defacement”.

It was disputed by petitioner Prashant Manchanda as well as the counsel for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

MCD seeks ₹1 crore

The MCD counsel submitted that the civic body incurred an expense of ₹1 crore on removing the defacements from across its 12 zones, which DU should reimburse.

Later, DU Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh said they would appeal to the High Court for an exemption from paying the compensation. “It is a significant amount and we do not have the funds to pay it. We cannot expect students to cover this fine either. Though we asked the candidates to abide by the rules, they continued to violate them, which has put us in a difficult situation,” he said.

(With inputs from PTI)

Published - October 22, 2024 12:53 am IST