Kolkata, Sep 14 (IANS): A plea was moved before a division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Monday seeking an urgent hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) that calls for a ban on the entry of outsiders into the campuses of all universities in West Bengal.
The PIL on the same issue is already pending before the Calcutta High Court. Now, a fresh plea has been moved before the Calcutta High Court’s division bench of Justice Arijit Banerjee and Justice Reetobroto Kumar Mitra seeking an urgent hearing on the same PIL.
The PIL takes note of recent incidents of clashes between the activists of different students’ unions in different university campuses of the state.
According to court sources, the PIL is scheduled to come up for hearing before the bench of Chief Justice Ravindra Vithalrao Ghuge and Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty on September 16.
The development follows recent tensions at Jadavpur University in south Kolkata, where activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the CPI(M), and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) were involved in two rounds of clashes.
In the PIL, the petitioner has sought a prohibition on the entry of outsiders not only into the Jadavpur University campus but also into all university campuses across West Bengal. The plea argues that the presence and activities of outsiders frequently disrupt the academic atmosphere and affect the normal functioning of educational institutions.
Appearing for the petitioner, counsel submitted that unrestricted entry of outsiders, particularly at Jadavpur University, has been a longstanding concern and has often led to disturbances for students. The petitioner further pointed out that reports of clashes among rival student groups have continued to emerge from other university campuses even after the PIL was filed.
Citing these developments, the petitioner has sought an urgent hearing of the matter, arguing that immediate judicial intervention is necessary to safeguard the academic environment in universities across the state.
