Supreme Court stays JNU students polls

The Supreme Court on Friday imposed a stay on holding elections to the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union. Polling was scheduled for November 3.

The Supreme Court on Friday imposed a stay on holding elections to the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union. Polling was scheduled for November 3.

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A bench headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat, however, added that the election could take place if the Union complied with the Lyngdoh Committee's recommendations on the mode of selecting candidates.

The order followed from the court's displeasure at violation of the committee's recommendations. Some candidates were contesting the election for the second or third time against the panel's recommendation barring students from contesting a second time.

Also, election of some candidates is in violation of the age-limit prescribed by the Lyngdoh committee, which is 24-25 years for post-graduate students and 28 years for research students.

The bench also issued a contempt notice to JNU's Vice-chancellor and Registrar, seeking their explanation on the violations.The bench passed directions on an application moved by senior advocate Gopal Subramaniam. He complained about the non-implementation of the apex court's September 2006 direction on the committee's recommendations.