Chandigarh, November 15: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday urged protesting Panjab University students to return to their classrooms and allow academic activities to continue uninterrupted. The bench, headed by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry, stressed that the university’s functioning should not be “sacrificed at the altar of electoral aspirations.”
The court was hearing an application filed by former senators of the university, including HS Dua, seeking directions for the notification of senate elections. The petition, part of an ongoing matter pending since 2024, seeks the declaration of the schedule for elections after the senate’s term expired on October 31, 2024.
“Please go back to your classes. Attend classes for some days… then we will hear this case,” the bench remarked, emphasizing that education must take priority over campus politics. The court noted, “Why are students these days so interested in elections? They are there to study. Education is being imparted, allow that to happen.”
The counsel for the petitioners clarified that the plea had been filed by former governing body members, not the students. The court drew comparisons with Madhya Pradesh, where university elections were not held for five years, yet academic activities proceeded peacefully, and teachers and students remained content.
Additional Solicitor General Satya Pal Jain, appearing for the Centre, informed the court that the government had withdrawn the notification for restructuring the senate following student protests. He said the election process was underway but complicated due to approximately 3.5 lakh registered graduate voters spread across Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, and Chandigarh.
“For elections, you need a cordial atmosphere,” Jain submitted, assuring the court that the Centre intended to hold elections and that the schedule could be placed before the court by the next hearing on December 16.
The court asked petitioners to let academic activities resume and said that while authorities would be urged to expedite the election process, it could not provide a definite timeline.
Since the senate’s term ended in October 2024, elections have not been conducted. A Centre notification issued on October 28, 2024, proposing the restructuring of the senate and syndicate and eliminating graduate constituency polls, triggered protests. The notification was withdrawn on November 7, restoring the university’s previous governance system. On November 10, protests escalated further, with farmer organizations and political parties joining students on the Chandigarh-Mohali border to demand an election schedule.
