Protesting Wardha students have not violated model code of conduct, EC gives clean chit

Within four hours of the protest, the varsity had expelled students on the charge of violating the model code

Image Courtesy: Economic Times

On Wednesday, the Election officials gave a clean chit to five students and a former alumnus of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya (MGAHV), in the case of allegedly violating a model code of conduct in poll-bound Maharashtra leading to their expulsion, The Telegraph reported.

The students against whom the complaint had been launched for violating the Model Code of Conduct by organizing ‘mass demonstrations with the intent to interfere in the administrative process’, were cleared by the office of the Wardha collector – the district’s electoral officer.

ChandanSaroj, Neeraj Kumar, Rajesh Sarthi, RajnishAmbedkar, Pankaj Vela and VaibhavPimpalkar, all from Dalit and Other Backward class communities had been expelled after they protested against the administration’s decision to block them from writing letters to PM NarendraModi about the rising incidents of mob lynching,the recent government decisions on Kashmir and the policy of privatisation, apart from the shielding of rape-accused leaders.

RajnishAmbedkar, a Dalit research scholar and one of the expelled students said that the students had explained to the election officials that the protest was a part of their democratic right and that it was wrong of the university to expel them as not belonging to any political party, they hadn’t violated any law.

Moreover, the expulsion order did not make any mention of the event that was organised against the sedition case filed against the celebrities who wrote an open letter to the PM.

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ChandanSaroj, who organized the event said that since they were protesting against the saffronisation of the university, their voices were being stifled.

The expulsion order was followed by another order which said that the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules prohibited demonstrations and sit-in protests in university premises.

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Students have also accused the university vice-chancellor of being affiliated to the RashtriyaSwayamsevakSangh (RSS).

The District Collector wrote to the University administration saying that the university had no authority to invoke the model code against the students.

On Sunday, the university revoked the expulsions but sent details of the protest to the collector as a complaint of code violation by the students.The collector asked all the students to submit their responses and depose before electoral officials, which they did.The university is planning to set up an enquiry into the protest to see if the students had violated any university rules.