Rajasthan High Court refuses to order immediate student union elections

While rejecting the order for immediate election of students’ unions in universities and colleges on Friday, December 19, 2025, the Rajasthan High Court directed the State government to formulate a comprehensive policy on the conduct of polls and constitute a high-level committee for the purpose.

Justice Umashankar Vyas of the Jaipur Bench of the Supreme Court heard a batch of writ petitions seeking resumption of students’ union elections and directed that the committee should consult all stakeholders, including students and university management, by January 19, 2026 to decide on the future course of action.

The court said, “If the elections continue to be postponed, the government must provide strong and valid justifications.” The court also observed that although student body surveys represent a democratic right, they cannot override the right to education.

During the tenure of the Bharatiya Janata Party government from 2003 to 2008, student union elections in all universities and colleges were suspended in the state. Elections were resumed in 2010 under the subsequent Congress government. It was postponed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and later restarted in 2022.

In 2023, the elections were postponed again for a few months due to the purchase of university buildings by the Parliamentary Election Commission and the implementation of various parts of the new education policy. Since the formation of the BJP government in December 2023, no action has been taken to restart student elections.

The petitioners argued that student representation constituted a “fundamental democratic right” and that students could not be deprived of the democratic right. The state government argued that the polls would disturb academics during the rollout of the National Education Policy and that the Lyngdoh Committee’s timeline for elections to be held within eight weeks of the start of the session was already over.

The court also directed the Election Commission not to use university and college campuses for election-related activities, while observing that the establishment of ballot boxes and other facilities in higher education institutions disrupted the work.