Kerala High Court warns Law Secretary, Cabinet Secretary of court appearance over anti-ragging Bill delay
The Kerala High Court has told the State government that the Law Secretary and the Cabinet Secretary will have to appear before the court unless “satisfactory progress” is made in finalising the draft Kerala Prohibition of Ragging (Amendment) Bill.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice C. Jayachandran noted that the State had not informed the court about the current status of the draft Bill. Despite specific directions, the Bill had not yet been placed before the Cabinet for approval.
Following the court’s request, the Election Commission of India had allowed a Cabinet meeting to finalise the draft Bill during the State Legislative Assembly elections. After the new State government was formed, the court gave the State three weeks from June 10 to take steps on the draft Bill. The court observed that the matter has been pending for over a year.
The petition was filed by the Kerala State Legal Services Authority to address the “increasing brutality and violence in ragging” in educational institutions across the State by strengthening the Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1998.
The draft Bill proposes the formation of anti-ragging committees, squads, and mentoring cells in all educational institutions, as well as anti-ragging cells at police stations. Upon receiving a complaint, the head of the institution must determine within 24 hours whether a prima facie case exists and, if so, register an FIR. The anti-ragging committee would be led by the head of the institution and include faculty, non-teaching staff, senior students, freshers, parents, and representatives from civic and police administration, local media, and NGOs involved in youth affairs.
