Student body elections conducted in free, fair manner: JNU poll committee

New Delhi : The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) Election Committee (EC) on Thursday said it had conducted the students' body polls "in a free and fair manner," in accordance with the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations.

The EC's clarification came after Dean of Students Umesh Kadam, in a letter to the student-run body on September 9, alleged that it had violated the Lyngdoh Committee Recommendations (LCR) and sought an explanation.

The EC submitted its reply to Kadam, who is also the Grievance Redressal Cell (GRC) chairman. "We, the members of Election Committee had conducted the JNUSU elections 2019-20 in a free and fair manner, abiding by the JNU constitution and LCR," it said in a statement.

Kadam's letter had sought responses from all election body members to 10 allegations. It asked all the members to prove their innocence with documents, the EC said. "The letters were dispatched after office hours with guards coming inside the hostel late at night to get a receiving of summon," it said.

The EC claimed that the letter was sent in violation of clause 6.8.4 of the LCR which prohibits GRC members from filing complaints. "They said the GRC also violated clause number 6.8.5 of the LCR which states parties are not considered notified until they have received a copy of the complaint; 6.8.7 of LCR which states that the hearing should not be held within 24 hours after the receipt of the notice," it said.

The Left-backed All India Students' Association held a protest in the varsity campus against the alleged "GRC interference and intimidation of JNU EC". On Wednesday, Kadam had alleged that students gheraoed his office and raised slogans against the administration.

The JNUSU polls were held on September 6 and the counting commenced the next day. However, the Delhi High Court has restricted the varsity from notifying the results till September 17. The court order came on pleas by two students alleging that their nominations for election of councillor in the JNUSU were illegally rejected.