JNU administration files FIR against students for uninstalling CCTV camera in hostel

The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration has registered a FIR against student union members for pulling off a CCTV camera installed in one of its hostels.

The JNU Students Union (JNUSU) members had uninstalled the CCTV camera at Brahmaputra hostel on Friday in protest of the "surveillance rule". 

"A FIR has been registered against JNUSU president Mohit Pandey and four other union members under sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) of the IPC in Vasant Kunj police station, on the basis of a complaint lodged by the varsity administration," police said.

While JNU administration said that they have been following the directions of the High Court, students claimed they have not followed the required procedure for installing the "surveillance" equipment at the campus.

"JNUSU administration's only hobby is to criminalise every act of resistance. They have bypassed every democratic body in bulldozing CCTVs. They have gone to the high court and talk about dialogue, but, when it comes to deciding about policies, they want to push everything authoritatively," Pandey said.

CCTV cameras have already been installed at Varsity's gates and the administrative building (where students hold protests). "We won't allow them to install the surveillance equipments in our hostels. And, by resisting this undemocratic surveillance we are not doing anything wrong, but reclaiming our spaces," Pandey added. 

In missing JNU student Najeeb Ahmed's case, the Delhi High Court had recently questioned the Varsity administration for not having CCTV cameras installed in open spaces at the campus.