Kolkata, Aug 1 (NationPress) A significant hearing regarding various public interest litigations aimed at expediting the completion of outstanding students’ union council elections across all colleges and universities in West Bengal was postponed on Friday due to the absence of the state government counsel at the Calcutta High Court.

Senior advocate and four-time Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member, Kalyan Banerjee, was expected to represent the state government. However, his non-appearance led the division bench of Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Smita Das to reschedule the hearing.

The next hearing is set for August 7, with a directive for all involved parties to present their arguments and necessary documents on that date.

It is worth noting that on July 17, the Calcutta High Court had instructed the West Bengal government to promptly complete the overdue students’ council elections in all state colleges and universities by issuing election notifications as soon as possible.

During that session, the state counsel indicated that some universities could not hold elections due to the lack of full-time vice-chancellors. The division bench remarked that elections should proceed in universities with full-time vice-chancellors.

The Calcutta High Court also highlighted that the state government must issue the notification for the elections first, after which the court would determine the subsequent course of action.

Last month, the Calcutta High Court instructed the West Bengal Higher Education Department to ensure that union rooms, often called common rooms, within all colleges and universities remain locked until the student elections are conducted and results are announced.

This directive from the Calcutta High Court was particularly important following a case involving the rape of a South Calcutta Law College student in June, where it was revealed that the victim was lured to the common room by three accused individuals before being assaulted in a nearby guard room.