In a significant development at the Allahabad High Court, the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has been instructed to file a counter affidavit in response to a plea demanding the resumption of students’ union elections, which have been on hold since 2019. The plea, filed by student Kaif Hasan through a public interest litigation (PIL), accuses the AMU authorities of violating students’ democratic rights by not conducting the elections.
The matter came to light during a hearing on November 18, when the court first directed AMU’s legal representatives to address the allegations presented in the PIL. However, the response from AMU during the subsequent hearing on November 29 was deemed insufficient by the court.
The division bench, consisting of Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Kshitij Shailendra, expressed dissatisfaction with the university’s reply, which ambiguously stated that elections would be held “at an appropriate time” without directly addressing the concerns raised in the petition.
“Despite the university’s assurance to conduct the elections, their response lacks the substantive details needed to address the specific issues outlined in the writ petition,” remarked the bench. Consequently, the court has set a deadline for AMU to provide a comprehensive counter affidavit by January 9, 2025.
