Students election-conditional stay

For us it is that time of the year again- elections.

This year the Supreme court has issued conditional stay on the students election. It has also issued a contempt notice.

The reason given for this act is that the elections have violated the Lyngdoh Commission.e

It is little unfair.

The students election, how much ever I might deplore the fact that the issues they fight for have nothing to do with the university, are very fair. You will not see DU type posters on the campus. All the posters are either hand-made (on chart papers with felt pen) or computer print-outs. The elections are free and fair without violence. Even if there is violence, there exists mechanisms to punish the guilty.

So for the Supreme court to make a hue and cry that the elections did not adhere to certain guidelines is little unfair when no such thing was said during the DU elections. After all if we are going to say that students have to adhere to rules, then it should be followed in all the Universities. To pick and choose is nonsense.

The guidelines that students have not followed pertain to age, mandatory attendance, and ban on one candidate contesting for more than one seat.

If mandatory attendance means compulsory attendance of classes, then Supreme Court is way off. There is no concept of mandatory attendance in the University. No one takes any attendance. And we are not going to change it.

Though, truthfully, I am not surprised that we lost out on this case. Especially if the students were defended by the University lawyer. He has the distinction of losing every one of the cases for the University. I know because I had to deal with him during one of the cases.