Delhi HC posers on DU rejecting nomination of NSUI candidate

The Delhi High Court today posed searching questions to the Delhi University (DU) for rejecting the nomination of the Congress-affiliate NSUI's presidential candidate for the upcoming students' body elections.

The high court sought to know from the University how a warning given to a student by a college could be termed as disciplinary action taken against him.

The court was hearing a petition by Rocky Tuseed, who has challenged the DU Chief Election Officer's (CEO) decision to cancel his nomination for the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) polls scheduled on September 12 on grounds of disciplinary action.

"The petitioner says he was warned by Shivaji College and it was not a disciplinary action which this court is (prima facie) finding to be true.

"I don't understand how can it be a disciplinary action.

By no stretch of imagination, it can be put as a disciplinary action," Justice Indermeet Kaur said.

The court reserved its order to be pronounced later in the day on the interim plea of Tuseed to be allowed to contest the elections.

The court further said that the university was "stigmatising" the student by rejecting his nomination.

Senior advocate P Chidambaram, appearing for Tuseed, argued how the CEO can reject his nomination on the basis of an anonymous complaint.

"It was done behind my back. If there was any disciplinary action against me in the past by the college authorities, I should have been called and heard.

"I was only warned and no disciplinary action was taken against," he contended.

Senior advocate Sudhir Nandrajog, appearing for DU and CEO office, opposed the plea saying it was not maintainable and the university has been wrongly made a party.

He said not allowing a student to enter the college premises amounted to punishment, which showed that disciplinary action was taken against him.

"A student is not necessarily sent behind bars. He was barred from entering the college. What is this if not disciplinary action? He was called along with his mother and he has apologised," the counsel argued.

National Students Union of India (NSUI) candidate Tuseed's nomination was cancelled on September 6.

He said he has contested elections earlier too for the Department of Buddhist Studies' students body and should be allowed to contest the DUSU elections.