Next round of FTII talks in Delhi on Oct 20

The student's body has already held three rounds of talks with I&B ministry

Fresh talks to end the over 100-day impasse at FTII will be held next week when a delegation of the students, protesting the appointment of actor Gajendra Chauhan as institute chairman, will meet MoS for Information and Broadcasting in Delhi.

Ranajit Nair, a representative of the FTII Students' Association (FSA), which had three round of talks with the I&B ministry officials in Mumbai early this month, said a meeting of the FSA with the MoS (Rathore) would be held in Delhi on October 20.

The venue and time of the meeting will be communicated later, he added.

The students have been boycotting classes since June 12, opposing the appointment of Chauhan, who they claim lacks credentials to head the organisation.

The ministry has, however, maintained that it will not cancel Chauhan's appointment, but has kept the dialogue channel open to resolve the prolonged deadlock that has brought academic activity on the campus to a standstill.

On Tuesday, a court here had rejected a plea for anticipatory bail by 12 FTII students booked for hooliganism during the August 18 incident of gherao of the institute director Prashant Pathrabe, who had alleged "mental torture and manhandling" by them.