GNLU students asked to do community work for attending party

The Gujarat National Law University (GNLU), Gandhinagar has asked 189 of its students to contribute 4 hours of community work, namely, gardening, weeding, watering plants, planting trees, beginning from Wednesday, August 8, 2012. The reason for the same is attending a party without ‘authorisation’ from the college authorities..An email from the GNLU Director, Dr. Bimal Patel (a copy of which is with Bar & Bench) states that, any student who refuses to do the community work will be entitled to deduction of “1 mark of goodness” in each subject of the current semester. Two students who have organized the event have been penalized with deduction of “3 goodness marks” in each subject and 4 hours of community work. The GNLU Director’s email also raises concern over the dress code of the students, saying “some students were very poorly dressed.”.Many students have refused to do the ‘community work’ as they felt the ‘moral policing’ by GNLU authorities was uncalled for and an infringement of their freedom..Speaking to Bar & Bench Prof. Patel said, “This is a residential University, whenever students are going out in big numbers, particularly in the evening, we have to be informed. At least to know where the students are, if any unwanted thing happens to anyone, we need to be informed about their trips. These 189 students have violated the rules and regulations. We were only concerned about their safety. Girls were also there. This was only sought as a helping hand to make our campus a green campus and cannot be seen as a punishment. Most of them were happy to do this.”.It appears that both the students and the GNLU administration plan to stick to their respective stands.