Delhi High Court postponed the counting of votes for Delhi University Student’s Union elections 2024-25 up till after October 21. The voting took place on Friday, September 27, 2024, in which over 1.45 lakh students cast their votes for the elections. The declaration of High Court came after Delhi University colleges failed to follow the Lyngdoh Committee Guidelines which prohibit the use of posters and defacement of public property by candidates while carrying out election campaigns.
Earlier, voting result was scheduled to be released on September 28, 2024, but after the Delhi High Court’s hearing on September 26, it declared that the election process may proceed on the planned date and timing but the counting of votes will not take place until Delhi High Court gets the satisfaction that all the posters, hoardings, banners and spray paints are removed and all the public property is restored.
According to Rajesh Singh, Returning Officer for Delhi University Student’s Union election, the next hearing with Delhi High Court is set up for October 21, after that only the date for tabulation of votes will be able to get decided. He further said that 90 percent of posters and banners have been removed and the process of removing the remaining election materials is underway. Hence candidates have been directed to remove the banners.
The court showed its disappointment in the way Delhi University overshadowed the guidelines of the Lyngdoh Committee which prohibit the use of posters and defacement of public property during the election campaigns.
Delhi High Court ordered the University of Delhi to store the Election Voting Machines (EVMs) safely under the strong surveillance with itself till courts next order.
The court emphasized that since the election primarily benefits the university and its students, DU is responsible for bearing the costs. Hence court gave the order to Delhi University to cover the expenses incurred by Municipal Cooperation of Delhi, Delhi Metro and other government departments as they were involved in restoring of public properties that were damaged by the DUSU candidates and other workers affiliated with it and it was their right to recover the amount they had spent on the damages done by candidates.
Despite laws being made on the issues like pasting of banners and posters on the walls and destruction of public property, candidates still frequently ignore these regulations in a bid to gain visibility. Effective monitoring and stricter enforcement of the rules by Delhi University , along with collaboration with local authorities, could help mitigate such violations.
