Action against Ragging
Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act 1999 which is in effect from 15th May 1999 has the following provisions for Action against Ragging.
- Ragging within or outside of any educational institution is prohibited.
- Whosoever directly or indirectly commits, participates in, abets, or propagates ragging within or outside any educational institution shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term up to 2 years and / or penalty, which may extend to ten thousand rupees.
- Any student convicted of an offence of ragging shall be dismissed from the educational institution and such student shall not be admitted in any other educational institution for a period of five years from the date of order of such dismissal.
- Whenever any students or, as the case may be, the parents or guardian or a teacher of an educational institution complaints, in writing, of ragging to the head of the educational institution, the head of the educational institution shall, without prejudice to the foregoing provisions, within seven days of the receipt of the complaint, enquire into the matter mentioned in the complaint and if, prima facie, it is found true, suspend the student who is accused of the offence, and shall, immediately forward the complaint to the police station having jurisdiction over the area in which the educational institution is situated, for further action. Where, on enquiry by the head of the educational institution, it is found that there is no substance, prima facie, in the complaint received; he/she shall intimate the fact, in writing, to the complainant. The decision of the head of the educational institution shall be final. If the head of the educational institution fails or neglects to act in the manner specified in section "d" above when a complaint of ragging is made, such person shall be deemed to have abetted the offence and shall, on conviction, be punished as provided for in section "b" above.
- Ragging within or outside of any educational institution is prohibited.
- Whosoever directly or indirectly commits, participates in, abets, or propagates ragging within or outside any educational institution shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term up to 2 years and / or penalty, which may extend to ten thousand rupees.
- Any student convicted of an offence of ragging shall be dismissed from the educational institution and such student shall not be admitted in any other educational institution for a period of five years from the date of order of such dismissal.
- Whenever any students or, as the case may be, the parents or guardian or a teacher of an educational institution complaints, in writing, of ragging to the head of the educational institution, the head of the educational institution shall, without prejudice to the foregoing provisions, within seven days of the receipt of the complaint, enquire into the matter mentioned in the complaint and if, prima facie, it is found true, suspend the student who is accused of the offence, and shall, immediately forward the complaint to the police station having jurisdiction over the area in which the educational institution is situated, for further action. Where, on enquiry by the head of the educational institution, it is found that there is no substance, prima facie, in the complaint received; he/she shall intimate the fact, in writing, to the complainant. The decision of the head of the educational institution shall be final. If the head of the educational institution fails or neglects to act in the manner specified in section "d" above when a complaint of ragging is made, such person shall be deemed to have abetted the offence and shall, on conviction, be punished as provided for in section "b" above.
- The punishment to be meted out to the persons indulged in ragging has to be exemplary and justifiably harsh to act as a deterrent against recurrence of such incidents.
- Every single incident of ragging a First Information Report (FIR) must be filed without exception by the institutional authorities with the local police authorities.
- The Anti-Ragging Committee of the institution shall take an appropriate decision, with regard to punishment or otherwise, depending on the facts of each incident of ragging and nature and gravity of the incident of ragging.
- Depending upon the nature and gravity of the offence as established the possible punishments for those found guilty of ragging at the institution level shall be any one or any combination of the following,
- Cancellation of admission
- Suspension from attending classes
- Withholding/withdrawing scholarship/fellowship and other benefits
- Debarring from appearing in any test/examination or other evaluation process
- Withholding results
- Debarring from representing the institution in any regional, national or international meet, tournament, youth festival, etc.
- Suspension/expulsion from the hostel
- Rustication from the institution for period ranging from 1 to 4 semesters
- Expulsion from the institution and consequent debarring from admission to any other institution.
- Collective punishment: when the persons committing or abetting the crime of ragging are not identified, the institution shall resort to collective punishment as a deterrent to ensure community pressure on the potential raggers.
- MR.. SURENDRA DEVIDAS GHATOL
- MR. SANJAY LOUIS MENDES
- MR. NIKHIL MAHESH ASOLKAR
- MRS.NIZHAT BABULAL MULANI