Today, Friday, November 10, the Delhi High Court ordered the City Police to meet with representatives from Guru Gobind Singh IP University, IIT Delhi, and Delhi University (DU) to develop a standard operating procedure (SoP) for arranging security arrangements during college festivals and events.
Earlier this year, the court passed the order on a case it has registered on its own in response to claims made by many female DU students that they were secretly videotaped while changing in an IIT Delhi washroom for a fashion show during the institute's ongoing festival.
"In the meantime, DCP Legal is directed to convene a meeting in which representatives of IIT, Delhi University, and IP University shall be called," stated the bench, headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan, asking DU to place an advisory in relation to college festivals on record, PTI reports.
"In this meeting, the standard operating procedure (SOP) shall be put in place regarding the security measures during college fests organized by the universities," ordered the bench, also comprising Justice Mini Pushkarna.
The accused in the IIT incident has already been apprehended and the phone used for recording has also been recovered, the counsel for the Delhi Police informed the court.
“Nothing (that was recorded) is on social media,” she further assured, and said that the police have given protection to the girls.
The accused, according to the Delhi Police lawyer, made an opening in a shaft to peer into the female washroom and proposed that an infrastructure audit be conducted by the teachers of the respective colleges to prevent such incidents in the future.
The counsel for IP University said a protocol is already in place for their annual festivals, while the lawyer for IIT Delhi said that the institute has taken remedial measures.
Last month, about 10 students of Delhi University alleged that they were secretly filmed while changing in an IIT Delhi washroom for a fashion show during the institute's Rendezvous festival on October 6.
The high court took note of security breaches at college events, particularly those involving female students, and requested that the authorities involved take action, noting that it had dealt with multiple examples of student harassment during such festivities.
According to the high court, proper security measures must be put in place to allow students to attend such activities without danger of being subjected to such violations.
Such “recurrent instances”, it said, showed the “lackadaisical approach of authorities organizing such festivals in envisaging and enforcing protective mechanisms, aimed at ensuring the safety of students participating or attending the event”.
The matter is scheduled to be heard next on January 22.
