Saurabh Sharma photo by Amit Mehra
New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS) Sparking off a new controversy, the JNUSU joint secretary on Friday called and chaired a council meeting which passed several resolutions including for a probe into the recent controversies and "identifying, isolating and ensuring punishment for subversive elements that have brought a bad name". The acting union president termed it a "major fraud".
Among the other resolutions passed at the meeting summoned by joint secretary Saurabh Sharma, of the ABVP, were that all members of JNU community must desist from interfering with the due process of law, the JNU administration take strict action against the illegal residents immediately, and that the JNU administrations must act immediately on decision and ensure that tricolour continues to inspire JNU community.
JNUSU's acting president Shehla Rashid, however, said that it was called in contravention of rules and did not have the necessary quorum.
She said that according to the JNUSU constitution, the council meeting, which comprises 31 councillors from the varsity's various schools and four union members, can only be chaired by the JNUSU president or the vice president in the absence of the president.
In this meeting, only nine members of the council body were present which was below the quorum required, alleged Rashid.
"This meeting is a major fraud on JNUSU constitution. The so-called council meeting is invalid and all the resolutions passed in this meeting are invalid as per the constitution. This is because the quorum was not fulfilled," said Rashid.
"In this meeting, none of the other three JNUSU office bearers - president, vice president and general secretary - were present or were informed about the meeting. As per the JNUSU constitution, the meeting cannot be held with less than 50 percent of the members. It also states that the president or vice president has to be informed 24 hours ahead of the council meeting," she added.
She said the meeting was "unconstitutional and unethical for several reasons" and noted that as per the JNUSU Constitution, such meetings are called by the general secretary in consultation with the president.
She also claimed that calling a council meeting in the absence of the JNUSU president and general secretary was "an attempt to hijack the platform of JNUSU". President Kanhaiya Kumar is under arrest on sedition charges.
However, refuting the allegations, Sharma contended said there was no quorum requirement.
"As per the norm, we put out posters across the university campus 24 hours before the meeting. Moreover, there was no quorum required for the council meeting. Quorum is required only for emergency and general body meeting. Also, I had informed the general secretary of the meeting through the mail but there was no response for 48 hours," Sharma told IANS.
