CHENNAI: The state government on Wednesday informed the Madras HC that 231 cases were booked in connection with the fights between groups of students of Chennai city colleges in last 10 years.
The submission was made by government advocate Arul Selvam before Justice AD Jagadish Chandira when the bail petitions of the Pachaiayappa’s College students, who were arrested on charges of murdering a Presidency College student due to rivalry, came up for hearing.
As sought by the court during the previous hearings, the details of the cases involving students in clashes were submitted.
Out of the 231 cases, 198 were registered by the Greater Chennai Police and the remaining ones were booked by the Government Railway Police involving altercations and disturbances. Pachaiyappa’s students were involved in 58 cases while Presidency students accounted for 28 cases.
Advocate D Ravichander, representing the higher education secretary, said that the secretary has directed the principals of both these colleges to hold meetings with the students to sensitise them against fighting with each other.
R Thirumoorthy, appearing for the intervenor G Aravindhasamy, state secretary of Students Federation of India (SFI), stressed the need for ensuring ‘restorative justice’ for the students, and he said some student body has to be established in the colleges to act as a bridge between the students and the management in order to find a lasting solution to the issue.
After hearing the submissions, the judge impleaded the principals of the Pachaiyappa’s and Presidency colleges in the case, as suggested by the counsel for the higher education secretary. He reserved the orders on the bail petitions.