Hold meeting, frame SOPs on security measures during college fests: Delhi HC tells police | Delhi News

A division bench of acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna directed, “In the meantime, DCP (legal) is directed to convene a meeting in which representatives of IIT-Delhi, Delhi University and Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha (IP) University shall be called. In this meeting the SOP shall be put in place regarding the security measures for annual college festivals organised by the universities.” The plea is next listed on January 22, 2024.

The Delhi Police counsel submitted that during the investigation it was found that the accused had created an opening to get into the shaft door and look into the ladies’ room or toilet. The counsel said that police had caught the accused and recovered his phone and there was nothing on social media.

The counsel submitted that the investigation is still ongoing as the Forensic Science Laboratory report is awaited since the man had allegedly deleted the video. The police counsel further suggested that an infrastructural audit could probably be carried out by the teachers of the respective colleges, at least near the ladies’ toilets.

While advocate Pritish Sabharwal appeared for IP University and said that it had a specific protocol in place, the counsel for IIT-Delhi submitted that they had taken remedial measures. The high court said that the replies filed by both IIT-Delhi and IP University be brought on record and permitted Delhi University to place on record an advisory issued by them on this issue.

In its October 9 order, the high court had said that the report highlighted the lapses in security measures employed for annual college festivals organised by universities across the state, resulting in injuries, violations, and trauma for students attending such festivals.

“The aforesaid newspaper report notes that during the Rendezvous festival, organised by Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi [“IIT-D”] on October 6, 2023, a group of students enrolled in Bharati College, University of Delhi, who had been invited to participate in a fashion show event, spotted an individual secretly filming them while they were changing costumes in a washroom. Upon reviewing the CCTV footage, the individual was identified to be a part of IIT-D’s housekeeping staff,” the high court had said.

The high court had then noted that the episode had left the victims distraught and raised concerns regarding the misuse of the videos, including their circulation on various social media platforms.

The high court had remarked that unfortunately, the court had been confronted with several cases of student harassment, highlighting serious lapses by the university concerned in the design and implementation of security measures at college festivals.

“In our opinion, it is imperative that adequate security measures are put in place, allowing the students to attend such events without any impending fear of experiencing such acts of violation,” the high court had said. It had thereafter issued notice to the Delhi Police, asking it to state the action taken against the accused.

It had also issued notices to IIT-Delhi, University of Delhi and IP University to submit a report indicating their existing policy on the “security measures during college festivals held at their premises”.