Punjab & Haryana High Court asks police to clarify whether rape took place at Lovely Professional University

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday directed the Punjab Police to inform it whether any incident of rape took place at Lovely Professional University (LPU) before massive violence and arson broke out on the campus [Ravi Raj v Union of India & Ors]

A bench of Chief Justice of Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor passed the order on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the violence that broke out at LPU after rumours spread about the alleged sexual assault of a female student on campus.

"In the facts of the case, we call upon the State of Punjab to file a status report to specify whether any incident has occurred as was reported on Reddit, social media platform on September 26th. Whether such an incident took place or not will be clarified," the Court ordered.

It added that the police should inform the Court about the steps taken to ascertain whether the incident had actually taken place on campus.

The Court also said that if no such incident happened, the police would inform it about the action taken to ensure takedown of the Reddit post that allegedly led to the spread of rumours.

LPU students resorted to massive violence on Sunday after reports of alleged rape of a female student on university campus. While the police have registered a criminal case to probe the allegations, they are yet to conclusively establish that any such incident took place.

Following massive destruction of property and looting of various shops at the campus, classes and other academic activities at LPU were suspended on September 28 for 10 days.

The PIL filed by Ravi Raj, a student of the LPU, seeks a direction for a CBI probe into the violence. Raj has alleged that the arson and looting went on for hours after the police received information about the gathering of students at the campus.

LPU Founder Ashok Mittal is a Member of Parliament (MP). He was initially a member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and recently joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Considering Mittal's political affiliation, the plea argues that an independent probe is required to ascertain the truth behind the protest.

The plea also refers to the violence that took place at Chitkara University in Rajpura, just hours before the LPU chaos.

"The same kind of unverified claim about women students set off violence at two universities on consecutive nights, a few months before the elections, that cannot be a co-incidence. Who created these claims, who spread them, who sent armed outsiders onto the campus, and whether anyone with the country or outsider did so by design, are questions that only a central agency can answer," it states.

Senior Advocate Gaurav Chopra, appearing along with advocate Arjun Sheoran, today argued that there was a "method to madness" as similar rumors had been spread in two universities.

Chopra added the police should have been prompt in ordering the takedown of the false claim on social media portals.

"We cannot allow violence to take place for three days like this. Complete breakdown," Chopra submitted.

Additional Advocate General Chanchal K Singla said the violence had spread following a post made on Reddit.

He added that a case has been registered to probe the allegations of alleged rape as well as the source of the Reddit post.

"We are in touch with Reddit and trying to find out the source of it," Singla said.

The Court asked the State to ensure such incidents are not allowed to take place in campus and listed the matter for hearing next week.

Additional Solicitor General Satya Pal Jain, appearing for the Central government, called for a probe into the source of the alleged rumours.

“You give an impression to the students that two girls have been raped and committed suicide, it is sufficient to provoke a reaction from them,” Jain said.