Mumbai: “They are students, not anti-socials,” Bombay high court observed orally while hearing a plea against the ongoing protests by thousands in Pune against alleged malpractices in Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) exams.




A bench of Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna said students have the right to protest if there are genuine causes but they cannot block roads. It said Pune is an education hub and students “are not keen to come on roads to agitate”. “If they are, it would mean the grievances are serious.” HC said students work hard to appear for public service exams and if they “find any hanky panky in the procedure, they have a right to protest”. It also said there should be fairness in public recruitment exams like ones held by MPSC.




While asking students to withdraw from the roads, HC cautioned them that a prolonged stir could affect their careers. Some protesters denied they had blocked roads. One of the three groups of students withdrew its stir. HC said the other two can apply for permission and change of venue, which the state can then consider.




HC said students’ genuine demands should be heard and sought a reply in three weeks on the steps taken by the state. The reply must list department-wise vacancies.




State advocate general Milind Sathe said on Sept 30, the Maharashtra govt had met the protesters and accepted three of their four main demands. He said the state cannot by law accept the first demand for removal of MPSC chief Vivek Bhimanwar since there is a prescribed process for it, adding that it has already written to the governor to look into the complaints against him. AG Sathe said the second demand for two mega recruitment drives to fill 70,000 posts has been accepted, as were two other demands for fixing Rs 100 as exam fees like in Rajasthan as well as for offline exams.




The petition, filed by one Amit Supekar and another resident, had sought that a designated space for agitations be created, the protests be stopped and legal action be initiated against protesters at three sites in Pune. The petitioners said what had started as a students’ protest is now seeing politicians joining in every day.




The students’ lawyer said police had given permission to hold protests on Oct 2 at a particular location. Sathe said after the meeting with govt, protesters had agreed to withdraw their stir but continued with it. He said at present, no permission exists for any protest and if protesters apply afresh for another location, such a plea would be considered.