Forced to postpone senate poll after state intervention, MU tells HC

The University of Mumbai postponed the senate election for the graduate constituency after the state government directed it to recheck the voters' list for anomalies. The university refuted claims of political interference and stated that it acted in accordance with government directives. The state government has been directed to file an affidavit before the next hearing on October 9. The university's election committee is expected to resolve the matter and publish a revised timetable for the election in the first week of October.

The University of Mumbai on Tuesday told the Bombay high court that the administration was forced to postpone senate election for the graduate constituency after the state government directed it to recheck the voters’ list for anomalies.

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A division bench of justice Nitin M Jamdar and justice Manjusha A Deshpande was hearing a plea filed by advocate Sagar Devre who alleged that the university had succumbed to political pressure.

In an affidavit, which was submitted by registrar Sunil Bhirud, the university, however, refuted the claims of political interference and said it acted in accordance with statutory directives from the government.

HC has directed the state government to file an affidavit before the next hearing on October 9.

The university on August 9 announced the senate election for 10 seats of the graduate constituency and set August 18 as the last date for filing nominations.

On the same day, BJP MLA Ashish Shelar wrote a letter to higher education minister Chandrakant Patil, raising concerns over the final electoral roll. The government on August 17 asked the university administration to investigate Shelar’s complaint and defer the election while the inquiry was on. Accordingly, the university issued a circular indefinitely postponing the election.

The affidavit from MU emphasised that their actions were taken in good faith and were aimed at improving the accuracy of the voters’ list. It further stated that the university had exercised “utmost care” in preparing the final electoral roll and ensured that the same rules and criteria were applied uniformly to all candidates during the scrutiny.

The university argued that it was impossible to conduct a comprehensive re-examination of the entire list, which had more than 1,13,000 voters, within a day. Hence, the election was deferred, and a reply was sought from Shelar, the affidavit said.

“The university’s election committee has been working to resolve the matter and its report is expected in the first week of October. After that, MU will publish a revised timetable for the election,” the affidavit added.