The judge impleaded the Higher Education Secretary, suo motu, and decided to hear all of them on November 26.
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The Madras High Court has embarked on an exercise to find a solution to the ever persisting problem of college students choosing to enjoy the darker side of groupism than the brighter side of unity and thereby ending up spoiling their own lives and also that of others by indulging in violent acts against each other.
Justice A.D. Jagadish Chandira has decided to hear the views of the Higher Education Department Secretary, the Students Federation of India (SFI), college faculty and non-governmental organisations, such as Satta Panchayat Iyakkam (SPI) and others, before taking a final call on the matter.
The decision was taken after a group of Pachaiyappa’s College students in Chennai moved the court seeking bail in a murder case registered against them after they allegedly chased a student of Presidency College at the Chennai central suburban railway station and assaulted him leading to his death last month.
The judge took note that the crime had been committed due to an enmity that developed between the students of different colleges in their pursuit to exert dominance over each other during their regular train journeys from the outskirts of Chennai to reach their colleges located in the city.
Justice Chandira noted with pain that the poor parents of the deceased had lost their only son and the parents of the accused too were in pain because of their children having been lodged in jail for over a month. He said, such incidents keep recurring without any let up and therefore, they required some attention.
Government Advocate (criminal side) told the court that 22 such cases were pending before various police stations in Chennai. Advocate R. Thirumoorthy, representing SFI, said that the students’ body was taking various steps to ensure unity and it was willing to assist the court in finding a solution to the problem.
The counsel also said that A.D. Revathy, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Pachaiyappa’s College had given certain suggestions to the Government, a few years ago, to prevent these kind of activities.
Similarly, advocate Arulmuruganandham, representing SPI which has been dealing with several cases in public interest, submitted that his organisation too intends to put forth its suggestions in this regard. The judge impleaded the Higher Education Secretary, suo motu, and decided to hear all of them on November 26.
Published – November 23, 2024 12:22 am IST