Delhi High Court Orders JNU To Allow Remaining Students To Register At Old Rates

The Delhi High Court on Friday said JNU students, who have not yet registered for the new academic year, may do so under the old hostel manual as it sought response of the University on the plea of JNU Students Union challenging the decision to amend the hostel manual. A bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdher also issued notices to MHRD and UGC which were impleaded in the matter. The plea, filed by JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh and other office bearers Saket Moon, Satish Chandra Yadav and Md Danish, challenged the minutes of the Inter Hostel Administration issued on October 28, last year, jurisdiction of the High Level Committee constituted on November 24 and recommendations made by it.

The petition had sought directions to quash the Draft Hostel Manual "illegally approved by the IHA as the decisions taken by the IHA are malafide, arbitrary and illegal and adversely affect the students".It claimed the decisions to bring about amendments in the hostel manual are contrary to provisions of the JNU Act, 1966, Statutes, Ordinances and the Hostel Manual.

According to the agitating students, they were not invited to the meeting where the IHA Manual was passed, which according to them has provisions for hostel fee hike and no reservation policy for students from marginalised sections for getting hostel accommodation.

The university had offered a partial rollback of fee hike by offering relaxation for students belonging to below poverty line (BPL) category in November. When the agitation by students refused to end, the administration had formed a high-level committee to discuss the revised hostel manual and hostel charges. The committee had recommended that the utility and service charge be reduced from Rs 2,000 per month to Rs 1,000 a month for all students.

The Human Resource Development Ministry had also intervened and held negotiations with the administration and students. It had said that the UGC will take care of the service and utility charges.