SFI to move Delhi high court against DU's Rs 1 lakh bond mandate for student poll candidates

New Delhi | The Students' Federation of India (SFI) on Thursday opposed Delhi University mandating a Rs 1 lakh bond from students' union election candidates, saying it would approach the high court against the "arbitrary and exclusionary" provision.

The university, in a notification issued on August 8, directed that contestants of the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) polls must submit the bond as a preventive measure against property defacement during campaigning.

DUSU elections for 2025-26 are scheduled for September 18, and the counting of votes will be held the next day.

In a statement, SFI's Delhi State Committee member Sohan Kumar Yadav said that while the administration's intention to curb defacement was appreciable, the move was "arbitrary and exclusionary".

"Year after year, the DU campus has suffered at the hands of rogue organisations that spend lakhs on canvassing, leading to rampant defacement. But imposing a Rs 1 lakh bond on candidates will do more harm than good," Yadav said.

Abhinandana, the joint secretary of SFI at Hindu College, said the condition would discourage ordinary students from contesting elections. "This provision will alienate marginalised students who cannot compete with those having ample resources," she said.

SFI said it had already submitted a memorandum to the university administration. "The response, however, has been to take up this issue legally, which mandates us to approach the high court soon," the organisation said in the statement.

In the 2024 DUSU polls, the Congress-backed NSUI made a comeback after a seven-year hiatus, winning two key positions -- president and joint secretary. The RSS-backed ABVP secured the vice president post and retained the secretary position, maintaining its presence in the union.

Ahead of this year's elections, the university has issued guidelines to prevent the defacement of public property, with the Rs 1 lakh bond requirement forming a key part of the preventive measures.