DU asks MCD to check property defacement ahead of DUSU polls

Delhi University has asked the Municipal Corporations of Delhi to take strict action against those indulging in defacement of public property ahead of the varsity's student union polls.
"Every year we see tonnes of paper lying on the roads, defacing the public property. As per the Defacement of Property Act, no one is allowed to deface the public property.
"In the light of Delhi High Court order you are requested to take strict action against the violators," DS Rawat Chief Election Commissioner for DUSU polls said in a letter to commissioners of three MCDs.
Among the rules that govern students' union elections is the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act 2007, which states that anyone who "defaces any property in public view by writing or marking with ink, chalk, paint or any other material, except for purposes of indicating the name of the property owner, shall be punished".

The act further states that the guilty "shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to Rs 50,000, or with both".
Notwithstanding strict laws against defacement of public places, posters of student leaders often backed by major political parties are often seen in subways, on flyovers, overbridges and walls across the capital in run-up to the student union polls.

DUSU is the representative body of the students from most colleges and faculties. Apart from DUSU, which is an umbrella council, each college also has its own students' union for which they hold separate elections.

The elections for the student body are scheduled for September 9 and the students' wings of various political parties have intensified their campaign.
Last year, the DUSU polls were swept by BJP-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) trouncing Congress' National Students' Union of India (NSUI) and AAP's youth wing Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS) to bag all four positions.