Ragging incident at PU: Legal opinion dashes hope of expelled students

Express News Service
Posted: Dec 03, 2008 at 0053 hrs IST

Chandigarh In a move to accommodate the six students from the Indian Theater department who had been rusticated from the department after their names had surfaced in a ragging incident, Panjab University authorities had sought legal opinion regarding the matter. Sought with a view to look for ways in which the students could be taken back, the legal opinion has, however, denied students admission to the department or the hostel.
A meeting in this regard has already been held twice in the campus: with Dean Students Welfare (DSW) Professor Naval Kishore and Dean University Instructions Professor S C Vaidya. Though the legal opinion has denied the expelled students from being taken back, authorities from the Theatre department are still keen on reinstating the expelled students. Talking to Newsline, Professor Vaidya said, “After going through the legal opinion, we do not think that the students can be taken back. However, such decisions require time so we are still considering the issue. It will take a couple of meetings to arrive at the final decision”.
In August this year, six students from the Theatre department had been expelled after their alleged involvement in a ragging incident. The ‘victims’ had laid serious allegations on their seniors including sexual abuse.
After the incident, the first year students had filed a complaint with the DSW after which PU authorities had expelled all the six students involved.
Later, the ‘ragged’ students withdrew their complaint but the authorities refused to backtrack on the decision taken and sought legal opinion