Not holding academic council meetings led to protests: JNUSU to HC

The office bearers of the JNU Students Union (JNUSU) today told the Delhi High Court the main reason behind the protests in the varsity was not holding of academic council meetings.
The submission was made before Justice V K Rao during hearing of a plea by the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) seeking contempt action against the students for obstructing the administrative block by protesting near it.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain and central government standing counsel Monika Arora, appearing for JNU, said the issue before the court pertained to the mode of protest and not the reasons for it.

The varsity also said that to resolve the issues, it has convened a meeting with JNUSU on February 23 and with the teachers' association the previous day.
It also said that an open house is held every Monday in the campus and the students were free to air their grievances there.
Senior advocate Akhil Sibal, appearing for some of the JNUSU office bearers, said efforts were made in the past to air their grievances, but without success.

He also said that the university should consider having academic council meetings twice a year.
The court observed that the plea before it does not pertain to the academic council and directed the JNUSU office bearers to file their replies to the varsity's petition before the next date of hearing on March 9.

It also said the interim arrangement as ordered on February 16 shall continue till then.
The court on February 16 had directed the JNU students not to obstruct the vice chancellor and other staff from entering the administrative block to carry out their work.
The high court had passed the interim order on JNU's plea which said that the protest near the administrative block was hampering its day-to-day functioning, including the disbursal salaries in connection with the Seventh Pay Commission.
The students had on February 15 blockaded the administration block demanding a meeting with the vice chancellor on the issue of compulsory attendance and stopped the two rectors from leaving the building.

The court had also said that the university was at liberty to request police assistance to maintain law and order in the campus.
It had, however, made it clear that the order "should not preclude" the students from peacefully protesting at the Sabarmati lawn in the campus away from the administrative block.
The university in its plea has claimed that the high court's order asking the students not to protest within 100 metres of the administrative block was being violated.
JNU has claimed that the protests in the university campus were in violation of the high court's August 9, 2017 direction to the students not to stage any agitation within 100 metres of the administrative block, which houses several offices including that of the vice chancellor.

The August 2017 order had come during the hearing of the JNU administration's petition against the blocking of its administrative block by agitating students.
The varsity had moved the high court when the students were protesting against the JNU's admission policy based on a University Grants Commission notification slashing the seats for MPhil and PhD courses.