Former SC judge Ramasubramanian has been appointed by the Delhi High Court to witness the JNUSU elections

Former Supreme Court judge V Ramasubramanian has been designated by the Delhi High Court as a “observer” to supervise the election committee’s operations for the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union elections scheduled for the 2023–2024 academic year.

In response to a student’s petition, Justice Sachin Datta also requested that, prior to the announcement of the results, the grievance redressal cell established in accordance with the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee investigate and issue an order regarding grievances pertaining to the election committee’s constitution.

“The grievance redressal cell would also pass appropriate consequential orders as regards the impugned elections, in case it is found that the EC’s (election committee) constitution is not in consonance with the law and/or with the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee (as approved by the Supreme Court),” Justice Datta stated in an order on Friday.

The parties’ respective attorneys have also agreed that, in the interim, a retired Supreme Court judge should be appointed by this court to serve as an observer and provide oversight over the tasks that the election committee will be performing for the duration of the ongoing election process. Mr. Justice V Ramasubramanian, a former Supreme Court of India judge, has been designated as the observer for this purpose, the court said.

Results of the JNUSU elections will be announced on March 24. The elections are set to take place on March 22.

The election committee’s member elections were held, according to the petitioner, in direct violation of the regulations.

It was argued that the two students assigned to form the committee colluded to form it with a blatant prejudice in favor of applicants who shared their political and intellectual views.

The petitioner’s objections and grievances should be investigated by the grievance redressal unit, which was established especially for the JNUSU elections, the court said. The petitioner was also allowed to approach it by the court.

“With reference to the election schedule, which was allegedly notified on March 10, 2024, the grievance redressal cell is instructed to finish the aforementioned exercise and issue a rational order before the final results are announced,” the court said.

Bachelor of Arts student Sakshi, the petitioner, brought up a number of issues with the planned elections, such as the permission granted to two students, Aishe Ghosh and Md Danish, to preside over the General Body Meeting (GBM) and create the election committee.

In order to preserve the integrity and confidence in the JNUSU elections, the petition asked for an order to conduct new GBMs strictly in compliance with the guidelines outlined in the Lyngdoh Committee Report.

In order to guarantee impartiality and openness in the elections held for student unions at different Indian colleges, the Supreme Court ordered in 2005 the formation of a committee led by J M Lyngdoh, a former chief election commissioner of India. In this respect, the committee has offered a number of suggestions.

The Lyngdoh Committee’s recommendations were accepted by the supreme court and are now required for universities.