AISA moves HC against DU's parents' surety bond for DUSU polls

New Delhi, Sep 3 (PTI) The All India Students' Association (AISA) approached the Delhi High Court on Wednesday, challenging the Delhi University's decision to make it mandatory for the parents or guardians of the candidates contesting the upcoming students' union polls to sign a surety bond of Rs 1 lakh, the student body said.

The provision, announced by the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) Election Commission on Tuesday, requires parents to furnish names, signatures and bank details on a non-judicial stamp paper, holding them liable for any violation of norms, including defacement of university premises or public property during campaigning.

"This is intimidation and an attack on students' autonomy under the garb of curbing defacement. As adults contesting elections of their own volition, why should parental signatures be required?" the AISA asked a statement.

The student organisation said activists Anjali and Manish will step up as petitioners and "challenge the provision in the Delhi High Court, just as we defeated the Rs 1 lakh bond earlier".

The demand for parental surety comes days after the DU informed the high court that there was no prerequisite to deposit money to contest its student union elections.

Last week, the court disposed of a petition moved by AISA activists Anjali and Abhishek Kumar against a DU notification that had mandated a Rs 1 lakh bond for the DUSU polls and Rs 25,000 for college-level elections.

The petitioners had argued that such a bond amounted to a "monetary discrimination" that would deter candidates from marginalised and economically-weaker backgrounds.

While disposing of the matter, the court had recorded the DU's assurance that only a regular affidavit would be required from candidates.

The AISA alleged on Wednesday that by introducing parental surety, the university is "violating its own declaration" before the court.

The university had introduced the bond mechanism after the 2024 DUSU polls, when the results were delayed by nearly two months following the court's intervention over widespread defacement on campus.

The results were declared only after the DU cleared all the defacement and promised stricter preventive measures this year.

The DUSU elections for the 2025-26 session are scheduled for September 18, with the counting of votes to be taken up the next day. PTI MHS RC