Delhi HC directs free lodging for visually impaired students at JNU

The Delhi High Court has instructed Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to allow a visually impaired student, who was evicted from the hostel, to stay in a campus guest house without any charges temporarily.
The court’s decision followed the revelation by the student’s counsel that, despite interim accommodation being provided in line with the court’s earlier order, the 100 percent visually impaired student was being charged Rs 100 per day, which exceeded his financial means.

Justice Hari Shankar has granted the university a final opportunity of 10 days to respond to the petition challenging the eviction of Sanjeev Kumar Mishra from the hostel.
The challenge is based on the argument that applicable rules prohibiting hostel accommodation for a student pursuing a second postgraduate course should take into account individual physical disabilities.

Advocate Rahul Bajaj, representing the petitioner, contended that applying such rules without considering individual disabilities is unjust.
Following the petitioner’s counsel informing the court that JNU was charging Rs 100 per day for accommodation, the high court, on January 22, directed the university to allow the student to stay in the provided room without any fees until the next date of the hearing.
Previously, on January 4, JNU’s counsel had offered temporary accommodation for Mishra, and the court had emphasised that this interim arrangement aimed to prevent the petitioner from enduring ongoing hardship.

The court has now scheduled the case for further hearing and disposal on February 12, instructing both parties to submit their written submissions.