The Delhi High Court on Thursday set aside a Delhi University (DU) order barring National Secretary of National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) Lokesh Chugh from the varsity for allegedly organising the screening of a BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav set aside the March 10 order passed by the varsity and restored the student leader’s admission, noting that necessary consequences will follow.
Appearing for DU, Attorney General R. Venkataramani contended that the varsity had banned Chugh from appearing in any university examination for one year after a protest was organised at the varsity’s premises on January 27.
He alleged that during the agitation, the BBC documentary titled ‘India: The Modi Question’ was screened for public viewing.
The DU order named Chugh as the mastermind behind the protest and also accused him of actively participating in the screening of the documentary on the varsity’s campus.
On April 24, DU had apprised the High Court that students screening the banned documentary on Modi without permission and organising protests despite the imposition of prohibitory orders amounted to ‘gross indiscipline’.
DU submitted that it acted against the students who organised the screening of the BBC documentary based on newspaper reports, which said that the two-part series was banned in India.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, along with Advocates Naman Joshi, Ritika Vohra and Abhik Chimni represented Chugh.