Ban on Students’ Union elections: ABVP files PIL seeking intervention of Orissa HC

Cuttack: Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) today filed a petition in the Orissa High Court here seeking intervention of the court over Students’ Union elections which were previously banned by Odisha government in all degree colleges and universities in the State for this year.

The students’ outfit appealed in the High Court saying that elections to the Students’ Union are essential. Higher Education Secretary has been made a party in the public interest litigation (PIL). ABVP has stated what losses will apparently be there if the elections will not be held. The PIL was filed by the state secretary of ABVP, senior High Court lawyer Pitambar Acharya informed.

In the PIL, the students’ outfit has cited an order of Calcutta High Court recently pronounced wherein the court said why such elections are essential, the legal counsel expressed.

It is pertinent to mention, Common Academic Celender (CAC) for the Academic Session 2023-24, which was issued by the Higher Education department of the Odisha Government on September 13, has no mention of the Students’ Union elections in it. Elections have not been held since 2018.

A few days ago, members of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of Congress, staged demonstrations in front of various degree colleges and universities across the State.

“Students are being denied their democratic right as the Government is not holding Students’ Union elections,” NSUI state unit president Yashir Nawaz had said in his reaction during the protest.