With the tenure of the Panjab University Senate ending on Thursday, the university currently lacks a governing body, and there has been no update from the authorities regarding the scheduling of elections. The High Court has not provided interim relief to the petitioners who requested a one-year extension for the Senate’s tenure, deferring the issue to December 10. University officials have stated that they will not make a decision on holding elections while the matter is pending in court.
Political leaders, including Anandpur Sahib MP and former PUCSC president Malwinder Kang, have raised concerns about the delay in elections, having written to the Chancellor of the University, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar. Additionally, some students have protested on campus, joined by former MLA and PUCSC president Kuljit Singh Nagra and several other Senators.
Dr. Jagwant Singh, one of the petitioners in the High Court, expressed his belief that starting the Senate’s tenure retroactively on November 1, 2020, was incorrect. However, the court did not grant interim relief because the challenge to the 2021 notification was brought forth in 2024. He noted that the delay was partly due to some individuals suggesting that changes to the notification were being considered.
Others have been calling for governance reforms within the Senate and the university’s operational structure. Former Vice-Chancellor Prof. Arun Grover commented that rather than resorting to legal action, the ten Senators of PU should have convened a special meeting to openly and objectively address the issues surrounding the formation of a new Senate, emphasizing the need to maintain public trust in the university’s governance. He noted that the opportunity for Senators to initiate changes in the governance structure is now lost.
This marks the second instance of PU operating without an established Senate. The previous occurrence was in 2020 during the Covid pandemic, which delayed elections until 2021. In a prior interview, Vice-Chancellor Renu Vig mentioned that the university’s operations had not been hindered during the Senate’s absence in 2020, as decisions made by the VC were later ratified by the Senate when it convened in January 2022.
