News
Apex court directs universities on accountability for persistent ragging
View(s):By Ranjith Padmasiri
The Supreme Court has issued a string of guidelines aimed at combatting ragging in higher educational institutions and ordered the Education Ministry, University Grants Commission, vice chancellors and police to report back to court within six months, the steps taken to comply with the directions.
The guidelines have been issued as part of the judgment of a fundamental Rrghts petition filed by Pasindu Hirushan Silva, an undergraduate of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura who was seriously injured in a ragging incident on March 3, 2020 and his sister Shermila Priyadarshani Silva.
The petition was heard by a bench comprising Justices Shiran Gooneratne, K.Priyantha Fernando and Sobhitha Rajakaruna.
Student Pasindu Silva sustained grievous injuries and is recovering. The petition had sought a just and equitable relief for the injuries suffered while advocating for systemic accountability to prevent future ragging incidents.
The University Grants Commission, former UGC chairman Prof Sampath Amaratunga and current Chairman, Prof Kapila Seneviratne, vice chancellors of all state universities, former education Minister Susil Premjayantha and Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasuriya in the capacity of the current minister of education and former IGP C.D.Wickremaratne and current Acting IGP Priyantha Weerasooriya were cited as respondents.
The court had called on all universities to submit reports on preventive measures against ragging.
The court ordered that all guidelines shall be duly implemented by all respondents and report back to courts on measures taken that include making of by-laws, designing a foundation course, issuing ministerial orders, issuing police circulars and requesting budgetary allocations among other steps.
The guidelines say higher educational institutions should set up a victim support committee for victims of ragging. The committee should include representatives from the academic and non- academic staff, a qualified counsellor or clinical psychologist and three final year students etc.
Operating a 24/7 emergency hotline/call centre for victims and witnesses of ragging incidents to make complaints, providing a swift response, providing necessary support for the victims, providing advice to them or their families about making complaints, following up on the investigations including checking if the complaint has been withdrawn and finding out reasons, are among the guidelines.
The guidelines also cover facilitating medical attention and other relief and ensuring an effective internal disciplinary inquiry mechanism.
Ensuring safety and security of students subject to the availability of resources is another guideline. It includes recruiting adequate male and female proctors, marshalls, wardens, security officers, student counsellors and other non-academic support staff, providing effective surveillance of public spaces in the university and hostels by installing CCTV cameras, providing equipment such as night vision camcorders, voice recorders, body cameras and walkie talkies to authorised staff, ensuring controlled entry and exit points at hostel premises and ensuring that hostel accommodation is strictly limited to permitted students and authorised people, are among other recommendations.
The guidelines suggest strict prohibition of consumption of alcohol in universities and hostels, regular audits of safety and security, forming an internal intelligence force comprising a select group from among academic and non- academic staff, reporting to the nearest police any drug related offences, allowing authorised people to carryout checks for narcotics.
Another recommendation is that the UGC should develop a foundation course to create awareness of and to combat ragging. The course should be compulsory for all first year students.
The higher educational institutes should identify alternative student accommodation in private lodgings and minimise hostel accommodation. They should also inspect and register private lodgings based on minimum standards and make the register available for students to select their choice of accommodation.
The institutions should address ragging on cyberspace and social media by developing and enforcing a comprehensive social media policy to address cyber-related ragging and related activities; providing expert training to student welfare staff on how to identify online ragging; making all students aware of the dangers of online ragging and how to deal with/report such incidents.
The institutions have also been ordered to ensure that student unions and any other organised student groups within the institution do not initiate or promote ragging, by taking steps including the ensuring of gender parity and ethnic balance in elections to student unions and their office bearers, and conducting elections in a manner where individual candidates can contest for each post instead of being elected on the basis of a list of nominated officer-bearers submitted by a contesting group, subject to written law.
The order also says institutions should introduce as part of its orientation programme for first year students, a leadership training programme to build confidence and resilience, before they begin studies.
The establishment of an anti-ragging Committee which is entrusted with recommending measures to improve anti-ragging measures also has been recommended.
The guidelines also include that Institutions shall apply disciplinary measures against any member of the academic or non-academic staff who fails to report an incident of ragging or attempts to influence a victim or witness to refrain from making a complaint or refrain from cooperating in an inquiry.
The court noted that ragging in Sri Lankan Universities has led to devastating consequences, including students abandoning their academic pursuits and, in extreme cases, taking their own lives. Despite legal prohibitions and institutional policies aimed at curbing ragging, the practice continues to inflict severe psychological and physical harm on victims, often leaving them with no viable recourse. Many students subjected to ragging experience intense emotional distress, leading to withdrawal from university education altogether. Victims often struggle with anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress, making it difficult for them to focus on their studies or integrate into campus life. Some students, unable to cope with the trauma, choose to discontinue their education, forfeiting their aspirations and future opportunities.
Reports indicate that students from urban backgrounds or those perceived as socially or economically privileged are disproportionately targeted, further exacerbating inequalities in higher education.
Systematic failure on the part of the universities in the implementation of anti-ragging procedures can be clearly observed, given the reports submitted by the respective universities. Despite the existence of various policies and legal frameworks aimed at preventing ragging in Sri Lankan universities, their implementation remains inconsistent and ineffective.
Shavindra Fernando, PC with Mirthula Skandarajah appeared for the petitioner while Dr Avanthi Perera, deputy solicitor general appeared for the first five respondents. Some of the vice chancellors retained private lawyers.
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