JNU students' body to approach Delhi HC for quashing hostel manual

The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students union is set to file a petition in Delhi High Court on Monday, seeking quashing of the contentious Hostel rules manual which was brought by the varsity administration leading to massive protest by the students and teachers in November last year.

The petition will also seek registration of the students at old rates of fee without any late fines, the students' body informed the students in communication on Sunday, appealing to them remain united and continue boycotting of registration and all academic activities including examinations and classes.

“It is unequivocally evident that the new Inter-Hall Administration (IHA) manual clearly violates the JNU Act 1966. We hereby urge everyone to wait till the JNU students union expedites all legal measures against the illegally passed IHA (hostel rules) manual and clarifies the progress by the beginning of the next week,” the student's body told the students.

The IHA manual and hostel fee hike are the bone of contention between the JNU administration and the students' body of the varsity. Amid protests by the students, the JNU administration agreed for a partial rollback of the hostel fee hike but remain adamant on other changes brought in the IHA manual.

After the January 5 violence in the campus in which several students and teachers were critically injured, the HRD ministry held a series of consultations with the students and varsity administration to resolve the contentious issues and restore normalcy in the campus.

But the JNU students union remained firm on their demand for a complete rollback of the hostel fee hike and the IHA manual.

Last week, the JNU administration began the process for registration of students amid heavy deployment of police personnel in the campus.

“The call for a boycott of registration still stands. Taking examination and/or classes at this juncture will only create more chaos and ruckus and lead to another bifurcation in the student community that has been resolutely and unitedly fighting tooth and nail against this draconian vice-chancellor (M Jagadesh Kumar) and his political masters," the students body stated in its appeal to the students.

Insisting that any academic schedule for registration of students and other academic activities should only be brought through discussions between the teachers and the students, the students' body rejected "all arbitrary schedules" released by the JNU Administration "in order to portray false normalcy.”