Punjab and Haryana High Court seeks report on LPU campus violence

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has sought a status report from the Punjab government on the investigation into violence and vandalism at Lovely Professional University in Phagwara. The matter was heard on Wednesday by a bench headed by Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra. It arose from a petition by LPU BTech student Ravi Raj, who requested a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the events.

Additional Solicitor Advocate General Satyapal Jain said the court wanted details of the Punjab Police investigation, including action taken, the identity of those responsible and steps against them. The petition said an unverified social-media post circulated among students on the night of September 26, alleging that a female student had been raped on campus and sent home. Students then gathered outside a girls’ hostel and blocked National Highway-44, according to the plea.

It further alleged that outsiders carrying weapons and covering their faces later entered the campus, broke the main gates, damaged CCTV cameras, looted shops and set parts of the university on fire. The petitioner argued that provisions of the Information Technology Act should have been applied over the circulation of the misleading information. Jain said it was important to identify those behind the alleged misinformation and expressed the view that a planned conspiracy might have been involved.

The material does not state that the court endorsed that allegation. Normalcy returned to the campus on September 28, after classes were suspended for 10 days. Many students left for their homes.

The court’s request for a report places the police investigation and any action against those responsible under judicial scrutiny, but no findings were recorded in the supplied material.