Delhi High Court upholds 75% attendance rule for DU student elections

The Delhi High Court has upheld that students must have at least 75% attendance to contest Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections, after a third-year student’s nomination was rejected for failing to meet the requirement.

The order came in response to a petition filed by Muskan, a BA (Programme) student at Satyawati College, whose name was excluded from the final list for the Sept 11 elections.

College authorities cited her attendance record, stating she did not meet the minimum threshold.

Muskan argued in court that she had regularly attended classes and that administrative errors had caused her attendance to be recorded incorrectly.

Her counsel noted that she had been assigned multiple roll numbers, first 683, then 688, and finally 689 in December 2024, resulting in a mistakenly low attendance record.

Despite this, the college maintained her attendance was about 45%.

Justice Mini Pushkarna said, "Accordingly, it is evident that a student who does not meet the criteria of having minimum 75% attendance cannot be allowed to stand for elections," confirming the strict enforcement of the rule.

The court noted that colleges are entitled to reject nominations of candidates who do not meet the attendance requirement.

The college and election officer had cited the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, which set the 75% attendance mandate for student election candidates.

During the proceedings, it was also revealed that Muskan had initially filed nominations for both president and secretary posts but withdrew from the secretary race, leaving only her presidential nomination under consideration.

The High Court directed that Muskan be granted a personal hearing before the Grievance Committee, composed of five assistant professors, on the same day at 3:30 pm.

She was allowed to present evidence of her attendance, and her record was to be recalculated in her presence, with the result communicated immediately.

The court ordered that if Muskan met the minimum attendance requirement, her nomination must be accepted and she could campaign until 9:00 pm that evening.

However, the ruling clarified, "In case the attendance of the petitioner is below the minimum 75% attendance criteria, the petitioner shall be communicated the said fact. In that eventuality, needless to state, the nomination of the petitioner shall stand rejected."

The decision reinforces the Lyngdoh Committee’s guidelines and Delhi University’s election rules, confirming that only students meeting the attendance criteria are eligible to participate in DUSU elections.