The High Court has held that girls staying in hostels are free to participate in political activities and go out for late night films. The court has quashed the restrictions imposed in this respect on the girl students of Kerala Varma College hostel in Thrissur. It observed that the girls are entitled to the rights enjoyed by the boys and held that any restrictions in the matter would be a violation of fundamental rights.
Justice Mushtaq Mohammad passed the order on a petition filed by Anjitha K. Jose and Rinsa Thasni, two inmates of the college hostel. They challenged the order of the hostel warden banning the hostel inmates from taking part in political activities and attending processions and meetings. The warden had also stipulated that hostel inmates will be allowed to watch films only on the day permitted by the warden. The permission was only for first show screenings (6 pm to 9 pm).
The court said that the hostel management has the full right to decide on the principles of hostel discipline. The students do not have any right to dictate to the management that it should behave in a particular manner. The court, however, made it clear that the management can use this right only by taking into account the purpose of such rights. The stipulation that taking part in political activities has no relation with the practice of discipline, it said. Any citizen in the country has the freedom to hold and practise her/his political views. The restriction on political activity is the violation of fundamental rights.
The court also observed that the choice of watching a cinema and the timing of the same are part of individual choice. It is for the students to decide whether to go for a film during the first show or second show, the court said and pointed out that such acts are outside the purview of the hostels. Boy students do not have any such time restrictions for watching the movies.
The college authorities are entitled to fix the timing for the students to enter the hostel, the court said but pointed out that it should be based on wisdom. The counsel for the college management submitted that these conditions were accepted by the parents and students at the time of admission to the hostel. The court, however, observed that the parent does not have any authority to deny the rights of the adult individuals. The petitioners submitted that the 6.30 p.m. deadline fixed by the principal for students to enter the hostel posed a lot of difficulties.
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