Lock up troublemakers, not girls: Kerala HC on Night Curfew for girls at GMC Kozhikode
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Court observed that "troublemakers should be locked up, not girls. How long will the students be locked up? How can we say that only girls need control? Why is 9.30 pm a fixed time for girls in the hostel? Will the mountain collapse after 9.30? The city should be open and should be secured."
Kochi: The Kerala High Court criticised the State Government for imposing a time limit on girl students staying at the hostel of Government Medical College in Kozhikode that boys don't have?
The Single Bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran asked this while considering a plea moved by certain girl students of Government Medical College Kozhikode against the impugned notification issued by the Higher Education Department barring female students from going out of the Hostel after 9.30 PM.
Court further observed that "troublemakers should be locked up, not girls. How long will the students be locked up? How can we say that only girls need control? Why is 9.30 pm a fixed time for girls in the hostel? Will the mountain collapse after 9.30? The city should be open and should be secured."
The court further said that the girls also have to live in this society and the government has an obligation to make the campus safe.
"The court also takes into account the concerns of parents with girls. There are hostels in the state where there is no time limit. Don't those children have parents? The court will not blame the government. What can the government do if all parents want to lock up their girls? We should not fear the night. It should be ensured that the freedom given to boys is also given to girls."
Court also noted that there is no time limit on the JNU campus in Delhi.
The court said that "criticism was seen that the judge hearing the case was opposing the regulation because there were no girl children for the judge. The girls who are my close relatives are staying in the hostel. Studying in New Delhi. There is no control. The nights are young in JNU Campus and it is alive 24 hours."
The petitioners also challenged several clauses of the Ordinance for Recognition of Hostels in affiliated Educational Institutions under the Kerala University of Health Sciences that set certain fixed times when the students have to study and can use the study hall.
