Kolkata, Mar 3 (PTI) Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the police to ensure that the registrar and assistant registrar of Visva Bharati are not obstructed from performing their duties or from moving freely at Shantiniketan by the students who are agitating for reopening of hostels.

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The court also directed the students not to obstruct the management in any way and ensure that the order is complied with.

The central university had petitioned the court claiming that a section of the students are demonstrating and agitating everywhere in the campus and lying on the ground on access pathways to office buildings to obstruct the movement of the institute's officers.

"The officer-in-charge of Santiniketan police station and S.P, Birbhum shall ensure and take all necessary steps so that the registrar and assistant registrar and the management of the university are not in any way obstructed from performing their day-to-day functions or moving freely in the university campus and outside," Justice Rajasekhar Mantha ordered.

Senior advocate Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharyya, appearing on behalf of the students submitted that they cannot be held responsible for the alleged disruption in the university's functioning.

He said that the students are agitating against the university authorities for not reopening the hostels, which are closed since the lockdown.

The matter will be heard again on March 17 by which date the respondents will file affidavits in-opposition and the petitioner will file reply affidavit following that, the court directed.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)