The Madhya Pradesh High Court has directed Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (DAVV), Indore, to conduct student union elections within 75 days, following a contempt petition alleging non-compliance with an earlier judicial order requiring elections in colleges and universities across the state.
Justice Pavan Kumar Dwivedi of the High Court’s Indore Bench issued the direction on Thursday while disposing of a petition filed by law student Arunesh Mishra.
The Court directed the university’s registrar to ensure compliance within the stipulated period with the order passed by the High Court’s principal bench at Jabalpur on August 3.
Contempt Petition Over Delay in Elections
Mishra had approached the Indore Bench alleging that DAVV, a state-run university, had not conducted student union elections despite the principal bench’s directions.
The August 3 order had required student union elections to be conducted in every college and university in Madhya Pradesh.
After examining the circumstances presented in the contempt petition, the Indore Bench directed the registrar to implement the earlier order within 75 days.
Election Schedule Not Implemented
Advocate Jayesh Gurnani, representing the petitioner, said the academic calendar submitted by the Madhya Pradesh government before the principal bench in Jabalpur had specifically provided for student union elections across the state in September.
However, the elections had not taken place despite the schedule mentioned in the academic calendar.
Gurnani also stated that the last student union elections in Madhya Pradesh’s higher education institutions were conducted in 2017.
