PU student moves HC, challenges affidavit restricting right to protest as unconstitutional

Contending that Panjab University’s mandatory affidavit for students infringes fundamental rights, a law student has approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking to quash clauses requiring prior permission for protests and threatening severe penalties for violations.

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Petitioner Parmpreet Singh, a law student, has argued that clauses in the university’s admission handbook compel students to submit an undertaking curtailing peaceful protests, failing which they risk punishments ranging from campus bans to debarment from examinations.

The petition filed through counsel Bharat Bhandari, Vinay Yadav and other advocates is yet to come up for hearing.

The petition asserts the affidavit is “unconstitutional, ultra vires, vague and arbitrary,” violating Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution. “There is no designated authority to decide what constitutes ‘genuine grievances,’ nor is the term defined anywhere in the handbook,” the petition states.

He adds the mattes in which the university itself has to decide whether protests are permissible will lead to clash of interest, especially when grievances are directed against the institution.

He adds that the conditions imposed “silence dissent” and run counter to the purpose of a university as a space fostering debate and critical thought.

He has urged the High Court to intervene and strike down the impugned affidavit provisions with immediate effect.