[CMC Vellore ragging case] Will a young student want to study in your college now? Madras High Court

Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore told the Madras High Court on Monday that seven of its medical students booked for ragging their juniors will be expelled if found guilty in the police inquiry report [Suo Motu v. The state of Tamil Nadu and 4 others]. .A Bench of Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Krishnakumar, which had taken suo motu cognisance of news reports on the November 6 ragging incident at CMC, asked the college authorities to explain how such a lapse had occurred in the first place."Ragging is absolutely prohibited under the law. Then how did this lapse on your side occur? How is it that this was not prevented? The whole world is looking at CMC. Who is responsible for this on part of this administration? You will have to fix accountability. As per news reports, even the warden is said to have been present there," the Bench said..The college had received an anonymous email saying that first-year medical students had been beaten up, stripped, and tortured by their seniors on campus. The senior students were suspended and subsequently arrested by the police. They are currently on bail..Senior Advocate Krishna Srinivasan, who appeared for CMC, told the Bench that following the college's internal inquiry and the police's preliminary inquiry, seven senior students were held responsible for the incident that allegedly took place on November 6.He also gave the Court a timeline of the events to show that the college authorities had sprung into action as soon as the anonymous complaint was received. Srinivasan said that an internal committee was constituted to look into the incident, the anti-ragging squad was notified, and the Principal himself made the police complaint. .The college authorities submitted that they regretted the incident, but urged the Court to note that this was an isolated incident that the college did not condone. "The police is already seized of the matter. If the police final report finds these seven students guilty, strict action in accordance with law will be taken. These students have no chance of reformation and no compassion will be shown to them by us," Srinivasan told the Court. .The High Court accepted the submissions, but said that such an incident should never have taken place in a premier institute such as CMC. It said,"If it had happened somewhere in the interiors, we would not have taken suo motu cognisance. But CMC is a premier college. If you and I don't take appropriate action, tomorrow one will say 'when it happened at CMC nothing happened.' Will a young student want to come study in your college now? What are you going to do now? How will you ensure that the quality of education is not impacted?".The Bench also said that all educational institutes were required to maintain discipline and follow the law. It said that "gold medals" and accolades were of no consequence if a college failed to instil discipline in its students.The judges went on to say that the medical profession was a noble one and often considered divine. It said that doctors were expected to treat everyone with empathy and that besides God, only a doctor had the power to give life to somebody. It directed the CMC authorities to file their affidavit and a status report in two weeks. .Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.