Bombay HC stays move to delay Mumbai University senate elections; now on Tuesday

A division bench of the HC held a hearing on Saturday. File pic

The Bombay High Court on Saturday stayed until further orders the Maharashtra government's decision to postpone Mumbai University (MU) senate elections. Following the High Court's stay order, the polls will now be held on September 24.

A division bench passed the order in a special hearing on a plea by three Yuva Sena (UBT) candidates Milind Satam, Shashikant Zore and Pradeep Sawant. The petitioners submitted that despite sufficient time available for MU to take steps to resolve concerns over the voters' list, the same was not taken and elections were sought to be delayed from the scheduled date of September 22.

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Earlier on Saturday, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray had said that the last-minute postponement of the senate elections was an insult to the court which also affects the image of the varsity. He said that if MVA returns to power after Assembly polls, it will investigate the role of the MU V-C for not allowing the MU graduate senate elections on two occasions.

"MU is an autonomous institution; how can the government intervene? When MVA returns to power, our government will investigate the role of the V-C as he has stalled elections two times," Thackeray alleged. Taking a dig at the Shiv Sena-led government, he said the CM feared that the Yuva Sena might win these elections.

It has been almost two years and MU still lacks a full senate. The previous senate's term concluded in August 2022 before it was dissolved. The senate, consisting of representatives from teachers, principals, graduates, and college management, serves as the highest decision-making elected body in the university. While elections of remaining members are completed, graduate members are yet to be elected to the body.

With inputs from Agencies