The Calcutta High Court on Thursday extended police protection to the registrar, assistant registrar and the management of Visva Bharati University to ensure that they continue discharging their day-to-day duties inside the campus without any obstruction from the agitating students.
The direction from the court came amid an ongoing protest on the university campus by a section of students demanding immediate reopening of hostels and online examinations. They had gheraoed the university officials, including the registrar.
The varsity filed an instant plea before Justice Rajasekhar Mantha alleging that the agitating students were disturbing the normal functioning of the institute. Directing the students not to obstruct the management in any way, the court, in its order, said, “In that view of the matter, the officer-in-charge, Santiniketan police station and SP, Birbhum shall ensure and take all necessary steps so that the registrar and assistant registrar and the management of the university are not in any way obstructed from performing their day-to-day functions or moving freely on campus and outside. This court also directs the students at the university not to obstruct the management in any way and ensure that the aforesaid order is complied with.”
The court scheduled the next hearing in the matter on March 17.
The students, however, said they have not gheraoed anyone and have been staging a peaceful protest to demand immediate reopening of hostels and the canteen. They also said that they have not made any obstruction to anyone and classes are going on without any hindrance. They vowed to continue with their protest until their demands were met.
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/amid-campus-protest-calcutta-hc-grants-police-cover-to-senior-vbu-officials-7800117/
