The Delhi High Coort was approached by the Delhi University (DU) challenging an order passed by single-judge directing the university to reinstate National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) national secretary Lokesh Chugh.
The National Secretary of NSUI has been barred for allegedly organising the screening of the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A division bench comprising of the Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Najmi Waziri have sent a notice to Chugh on the plea.
On April 27, 2023, Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav had set aside the DU’s order barring Chugh and allowed him to continue his PhD at the University.
The division bench has been approached by DU against the single-judge order stating that the single-judge’s order is bad anddoes not appreciate the fact that Chugh was present at the spot where the documentary was being screened despite imposition of Section 144 CrPC.
The University in its appeal said that from the video footage it is also clear that the students were using placards/posters and thus it is apparent that the protest was pre-meditated and pre-planned.
The DU in its appeal also said that the Flyers/posters regarding the protest were circulated through WhatsApp from which it is apparent that the Respondent No. 1 was instrumental in spear-heading the screening of the BBC Documentary.
The student leader was banned from appearing in any university examination for one year after a protest was organised at DU on January 27.
It is alleged that during the protest, the BBC documentary titled India: The Modi Question was also screened for public viewing.
It was DU’s case that students were screening the banned documentary on Modi without permission and organizing protests despite the imposition of prohibitory orders and the same amounted to “gross indiscipline”.
The University had said that it acted against the students who organised the screening of the documentary based on the newspaper reports which said that the two-part series was banned in India.