Court orders students caught drunk to clean Kamaraj Memorial

The students, who filed the petition, are in their fourth semester at an arts and science college in Aruppukkottai. They were caught drunk by a lecturer in computer science laboratory on January 7.

Accordingly, an inquiry was conducted and the students accepted their guilt by giving separate acceptance letters and tendered unconditional apology. When the matter was referred to the disciplinary committee, it decided to give transfer certificates to all of them on February 1, without allowing them to continue the fourth semester or to write the fourth semester examination.

However, on the subsequent request made by the petitioners and their parents, the decision was reviewed and the committee decided to allow them to write the fourth semester in April 2019 and then give them transfer certificates to enable them to join in any other college in the fifth semester.

Hearing a bunch of petitions filed by these students seeking to continue in the same college, Justice R Suresh Kumar directed them to visit Kamaraj Memorial at Virudhunagar, the birth of the leader, on August 15 at 10 am. After reporting to the in-charge, the petitioners should clean the memorial house and also assist visitors till 4 pm with lunch break. During his nine-year tenure as CM, Kamaraj advocated prohibition. Moreover, between 4 pm and 6 pm, each of the petitioners should carry two placards with slogans in Tamil opposing intoxication in front of the memorial.

The college should depute one teaching staff (Assistant Professor), who should visit the memorial on the day and be present in the evening hours between 4 pm and 6 pm. After ensuring that these petitioners undertook such exercise, a satisfactory report to that effect needs to be submitted to the college management on the next day (August 16).

After receipt of such report from the teaching staff, the college should permit the students to continue their course B.Sc. (Computer Science) from fifth semester onwards on receipt of fee. With the above observations and directions, the writ petition was disposed of.