Jadavpur University has notified Calcutta High Court of its opposition to the establishment of a police outpost on its campus.
While updating the high court on December 2 about steps like installing more CCTV cameras and engaging additional security personnel, Ritzu Ghosal, the lawyer representing JU, conveyed the university’s opposition to the police outpost.
“We have a policy on this, and our lawyer has communicated our stand on the police outpost to the court. The university has already engaged 32 former army personnel as additional security officers. It will install 77 more CCTV cameras by mid-January. But we don’t want a police outpost on the campus,” a senior JU official said.
On March 11, Kolkata Police wrote to JU requesting the establishment of an outpost near gate No. 4.
The mail came days after a section of students attacked education minister Bratya Basu over demands for the immediate resumption of student elections during his visit to the campus.
A public interest litigation filed in the high court, highlighting the absence of adequate safety and security on the campus, also demanded the establishment of an outpost.
A JU official said that, though there have been instances at JU where the police had to intervene, such as the incident involving Bratya Basu, many at the varsity were opposed to regular police presence on campus.
In August 2023, JU had communicated to the state human rights commission that, though there was no administrative order disallowing the entry of the police on the campus, the cops’ entry in 2005 and 2014 had sparked “large-scale demonstrations”.
Following the death of a first-year student at JU’s main hostel in August 2023 after alleged ragging, the rights panel wrote to then JU registrar Snehamanju Basu: “On what circulars/orders/law provisions, police/PS are disallowed to enter JU campus on a regular basis to check the delinquents, criminal activities and prevent them?”
The police action on the campus on the night of September 16, 2014, snowballed into the Hok Kolorob movement, leading to four-and-a-half months of sustained student unrest that culminated with the resignation of then vice-chancellor Abhijit Chakrabarti.
“Considering all these instances, the university has informed the court about its opposition to the police outpost on the campus,” said a JU official.