Do Not Have 1cr To Cover MCD Cleanup Bill, Says DU

New Delhi: Delhi University has said that it does not have Rs 1 crore to cover Municipal Corporation of Delhi's (MCD) cost for cleaning the defacement allegedly done by students during the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) election campaign after the civic corporation claimed in Delhi High Court that this amount had been spent.
"It is a significant amount, and we do not have this kind of funds.We will wait for the high court hearing and abide by what the court says. Students are also a party to it now, so let's see what happens," DU vice-chancellor Yogesh Singh said.
The same day, the high court sent notices to several candidates who have contested the Sept elections, requiring their presence regarding the case of public property defacement during the DUSU campaign. The next hearing is on Oct 28.
"He (the petitioner) alleges that major defacement was carried out by the following candidates, namely Bhaanu Pratap Singh, Lokesh Chaudhary, Ronak Khatri, Yash Nandal, Mr. Rishabh Chaudhary, Rahul Singh Dedha, Aman Kapasia, Deepika Jha, Aman Kapasia, Shivam Maurya, Himanshu Nagar, Aaryan Maan, Rishi Raj Singh, Yash Panwar, Rahul Jhansla, and Priyanshu Chaudhary," the court order said.
As the counting of DUSU votes continues to be delayed, student organisations are urging authorities to announce the results promptly. "We will await the court's final ruling on this matter before considering our legal options. We urge the high court to lift the stay on the counting of votes in the students' best interests. Even if there are issues in the election process, the results should not be postponed, as this reduces the tenure of the winning student organisation," said Ashutosh Singh, national media convener of ABVP.
NSUI expressed concern over the significant sum submitted by MCD. "With all our candidates summoned for the next hearing, we appeal to both DU and MCD to resolve this issue quickly. Additionally, we call on the authorities to announce the election results without further delay," said Ravi Pandey of NSUI.
Previously, the court had told DU to reimburse the expenses incurred by agencies, including MCD and DMRC, for the clean-up operations. It had added that DU could recover these costs from the candidates.
During Monday's hearing, the court reiterated its warning, noting that the defacement was not fully cleaned up and chose not to lift the stay on vote counting.
It also requested a new status report on the clean-up from both Delhi Police and MCD by the next hearing.