JNUSU Elections 2024: Delhi HC Appoints Former SC Judge V Ramasubramanian as Observer – News18

The Delhi High Court appointed Justice V Ramasubramanian, a former Supreme Court judge, on March 15 as an observer to oversee the activities of the election committee (EC) formed for the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) elections for the academic year 2023-24. The high court ruled that the observer is entitled to reasonable remuneration from the university.

A JNU student petitioned for instructions on how to draft acceptable university statutes, regulations, or methods for conducting JNUSU elections, taking into account the findings of the Lyngdoh Commission.

The Indian Express reported that in its March 15 order, a single-judge bench led by Justice Sachin Datta stated that the respective counsel for the parties have also agreed that, in the interim, a retired Supreme Court judge should be appointed by the Court as the Observer who will maintain surveillance over the activities/functions to be performed by the Election Committee for the ongoing election process. Mr. Justice V. Ramasubramanian, a former Supreme Court of India judge, has been designated as the observer for this purpose.

According to The Indian Express, the court dismissed a petition filed by a student called Sakshi challenging the mechanism for forming the election committee to elect JNUSU Students Council members and office bearers.

The petitioner had challenged a February 16 notification stating that Aishe Ghosh and Md. Danish had been authorised by the University General Body Meeting (UGBM) to hold General Body Meetings (GBMs) in the various constituent schools of JNU to elect members of the election committee for the upcoming elections. In addition, Ghosh was chosen president of JNUSU, while Danish was elected joint secretary, in the last recent elections conducted in 2019.

After a four-year hiatus, JNU will hold elections on March 22 with the results announced on March 24.

According to the high court, the UGBM resolution (which authorised Ghosh and Danish to convene/preside over the GBMs of various schools) clearly stated that “in the schools where councillors elected in 2019-20 are available, the GBMs can be presided over by the councillors in coordination with the office bearers.” However, the court found no evidence to show that this method was followed. The high court found ambiguity in the so-called “chit system” used by Ghosh and Danish to conduct school-level GBMs.

Justice Datta then stated that instead of the court conducting an in-depth factual investigation, it would be preferable if the petitioner’s grievances were addressed “in the first instance” by the Grievance Redressal Cell, which was specifically established for the approaching elections.