Chennai: Law students clash again; 10 booked

CHENNAI: Following a violent clash among law college students at School of Excellence in Law (SOEL), Perungudi, the state government had sent a strong advisory to all law colleges three years ago to curb such incidents. But violence has resurfaced at the very same premier government-run law institute with a couple of students admitted in hospitals following a clash among student groups.
On Friday, fourth and fifth-year students from the college engaged in a verbal brawl after one of the seniors had allegedly teased his junior during class hours. Things turned ugly when an argument turned into a fistfight in broad daylight inside the campus. Teaching staff's attempt to pacify the students ended up in vain, but with the help of other students on the campus, they managed to pacify the warring factions.
NS Santhosh Kumar, ViceChancellor of Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University (TNDALU), which administers SOEL, said, “Some day scholars and hostel students clashed on the campus, and we separated them. There was no (major) violence.
However, a student has filed a police complaint".
Taramani police, who received complaints from both the student groups, have registered a case against ten students under Section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 294 (B) (verbal abuse) of the Indian Penal Code.
Though TNDALU VC Santhosh Kumar confirmed that they have not dismissed any student involved in the case till date, police claimed that the SEOL had placed these students under temporary suspension.
Based on a 2019 ragging incident at SOEL, the then Governor-Chancellor Banwarilal Purohit had constituted an enquiry committee, which recommended a stringent punishment against those involved in such violent incidents.
This included a temporary ban on Bar Council enrolment and recording the same in the students' degree/transfer certificates.