Delhi High Court appoints Justice V Ramasubramanian as observer for JNUSU polls

The Delhi High Court on Friday appointed former Supreme Court judge, Justice V Ramasubramanian as observer for the upcoming Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) elections [Sakshi v Jawaharlal Nehru University & Anr]..Justice Ramasubramanian will exercise oversight over the activities/functions to be discharged by the Election Committee.In an order passed on March 15, Justice Sachin Datta of the High Court returned a prima facie finding that there is evidence to suggest that proper procedure has not been followed in the General Body Meeting.“Respective counsel for the parties are also in agreement that in the meantime, for the purpose of the ongoing election process, a retired judge of the Supreme Court be appointed by this Court, as the Observer to exercise oversight over the activities/functions to be discharged by the Election Committee. For this purpose, Mr. Justice V Ramasubramanian, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India, is appointed as the observer,” the Court ordered.JNUSU elections are being held after a gap of four years. The voting is scheduled on March 22 and the results will be declared on March 24.The last elections were held in 2019..Justice Datta passed the order while dealing with a plea filed by a JNU student named Sakshi.She had argued that the elections were being conducted in violation of the Lyngdoh Committee recommendation.The petition contended that the "democratic integrity of the institution has been compromised by the undue influence of certain political entities espousing certain ideologies" and these parties have "manipulated and attempted to rig the election process under the guise of the GBM".It had been alleged that the chairs for the GBM - Aishe Ghosh and Md Danish - are prominent members of a specific political organization.While Ghosh is a member of the Students Federation of India (SFI), Danish belongs to All India Students Federation (AISF). Both organisations are associated with the Left parties..The Court disposed of Sakshi’s petition and ordered JNU’s grievance redressal cell to deal with and dispose of her complaint against the constitution of the Election Committee (EC) before the declaration of final results of the election.“Needless to say, in case it is found that the constitution of the EC is not in consonance with the law and/or with the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations (as approved by the Supreme Court), appropriate consequential orders as regards the impugned elections, would also be passed by the Grievance Redressal Cell. In view of the election schedule that is stated to have been notified on 10.03.2024, the Grievance Redressal Cell is directed to complete the aforesaid exercise and pass a reasoned order prior to declaration of the final results.”.Senior Advocate Sanjay Poddar along with advocates Jivesh Tiwari, Aditya Kashyap, Govind Kumar and Siddhant Poddar appeared for petitioner Sakshi.JNU was represented through advocate Monika Arora.Advocates Vasanth Rajasekaran, Saurabh Babulkar and Harshvardhan Korada represented JNU's Dean of students. Advocates Abhik Chimni, Anant Khajuria and Maroof appeared for intervenors Aishe Ghosh and Md Danish..[Read Judgment]