Rs 30 lakh In Fines: JNU’s New Disciplinary Code Reshapes Student Life

Student protests at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) may have waned, but disciplinary action has not. According to The Indian Express, the university has collected over Rs 30 lakh in fines from students since 2016, signalling a shift from earlier forms of punishment such as suspensions, rustications and FIRs to a system of financial penalties that now defines campus discipline.

Under former Vice-Chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar (2016–2022), JNU collected Rs 22 lakh in fines, with the highest annual figure, over Rs 9 lakh, recorded in 2018. The pattern has continued under his successor, Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit. So far, midway through her term, the administration has already collected more than Rs 14 lakh, surpassing half the total fines levied during Kumar’s entire tenure.

The financial burden on students has been significant. As The Indian Express reported, the maximum fine of Rs 20,000 is nearly forty times higher than the annual fee of around Rs 500 paid by an arts student. Such penalties are imposed for offences including defacement of university property, collusion in unauthorised entry, acts of violence, and disruptions such as gheraos or sit-ins affecting administrative work.

These penalties have now been codified under a new disciplinary framework, the Chief Proctor’s Office Manual, approved by the Executive Council in 2023. The manual details offences and corresponding punishments ranging from fines and suspension to expulsion. It also prohibits demonstrations within 100 metres of administrative buildings, unauthorised gatherings or events, and protests near the residences of university officials.

Even informal student activities such as fresher or farewell parties without official permission can attract fines of up to Rs 6,000 or compulsory community service. The lowest fine, Rs 500, applies to smoking in unauthorised areas.

Vice-Chancellor Pandit did not respond to repeated requests for comment, though she has earlier said that the manual “always existed” and had only been “fine-tuned to make it legally sound.”

Student representatives argue that the document formalises previously informal controls. Nitish Kumar, outgoing Left-backed JNUSU president, called the manual “draconian” and demanded its repeal. “The administration recently fined many activists close to Rs 20,000 for their protest against a surveillance system in the Central Library. They have made this manual a medium of extortion,” he said.

Opposition has also come from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). Last year, the RSS-affiliated student group criticised the manual as “dictatorial” and “anti-student.” An ABVP member, requesting anonymity, said: “JNU has always been a place where students could debate and engage freely. But this manual is an assault on that very spirit.”

(With inputs from Indian Express)