Allahabad High Court: A Division Bench of Govind Mathur, CJ and Saurabh Shaym Shamshery, J. ordered the administration of Allahabad University to come up with a plan to stop rampant criminal activities in its campus.
The incident of the brutal killing of a young boy at the hostel of Allahabad University, Prayagraj had been published with prominence in all the newspapers. The facts stated in newspapers reflected lawlessness existing on the campus of Allahabad University. The campus under the control of the University had become shelter homes for the criminals and the entire campus had been converted by them as a playground for their criminal deeds. The University administration appeared to be ignorant and was not taking any action to prevent the prevailing circumstances. It was also brought to notice that a huge number of criminals were staying in the different hostels under the control of the University though they were not regular students and even the citizens of that area were not feeling safe and protected by the law maintaining authorities. Thus, the atmosphere of fear due to the criminal activities in the university and the area nearby resulted in cognizance of the same to be taken by Court in the form of Public Interest Litigation.
The Court directed the Registrar of the Allahabad University, Senior Superintendent of Police, Prayagraj and the District Magistrate, Prayagraj to remain personally present before the Court. The Court observed that in recent years there had been a spurt in criminal activities on the campus and in the hostels of the Allahabad University. The affidavits filed by the district administration revealed a shocking state of affairs of the University. It was stated that during the raids in the hostel’s huge amount of arms and ammunition had been found. In view of the facts revealed in the affidavits, the Court directed the Vice-Chancellor of the University to hold a meeting with district administration and prepare a plan/proposal to eradicate anti-social and criminal activities in the campus and hostels of the Allahabad University. Furthermore, Court added one more aspect in the present Public Interest Litigation by observing that the Court’s experience showed that the election of the Students’ Union in Allahabad University were held in blatant violation of the direction of the Supreme Court given in the case of University of Kerala (1) v. Council of Principals of Colleges in Kerala, (2006) 8 SCC 304, which opined guidelines to be followed in a University election. The Court thus ordered the University to address these issues with the help of district administration and further, the University, as well as the district administration, was directed to file all necessary progress report relating to the steps taken.[In re: Criminal activities in the city of Prayagraj and the incident of murder of an ex-student of Allahabad University at P.C.B. Hostel, Allahabad v. State of Uttar Pradesh, Criminal Writ – PIL No. 4 of 2019, decided on 17-05-2019]