Judgment :

Dr. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.

1. Directions have been given from time to time to see that the ugly scar of ragging is obliterated from the face of educational institutions. Mr. Gopal Subramaniam, learned amicus curiae, Mr. P.P. Rao, Mr. Altaf Ahmed and others appearing in the matters have given suggestions which we have considered. Keeping in mind the recent incidents of ragging which have surfaced, and which have been dealt with by this Court, it becomes necessary that the following recommendations made by the Raghavan Committee be implemented immediately, namely:

(i) Recommendation No. 5.14: "We also recommend that every institution should engage or seek the assistance of professional counselors at the time of admissions to counsel `freshers in order to prepare them for the life ahead, particularly for adjusting to the life in hostels...";

(ii) Recommendation No. 5.16: "We recommend that on the arrival of senior students after the first week or after the second week as the case may be, further orientation programmes must be scheduled as follows (i) joint sensitization programme and counseling of both freshers and senior by a Professional counselor; (ii) joint orientation programme of freshers and seniors to be addressed by the principal/Head of the institution, and the anti -ragging committee ; (iii) organization on a large scale of cultural, sports and other activities to provide a platform for the freshers and seniors to interact in the presence of faculty members ; (iv) in the hostel, the warden should address all students; may request two junior colleagues from the college faculty to assist the warden by becoming resident tutors for a temporary duration; and , the UGC and other funding bodies should provide financial grants for meeting the expenditure on resident tutors (v) it is strongly recommended that as far as possible faculty members should dine with the hostel residents in their respective hostels to instill a feeling of confidence among the fresh residents.";

(iii) Recommendation No.5.18: "We recommend that every institution must have an Anti-Ragging Committee and an Anti -Ragging Squad. It is essential to have a diverse mix of membership in terms of levels as well as gender in both the Anti - Ragging Squad as well as the Anti - Ragging Committee. The Anti -Ragging Committee at the level of the institution should consist of the representatives of civil and police administration, local media, Non Government Organizations involved in youth activities, representatives of faculty members, representatives of parents, representatives of students belonging to the freshers category as well as seniors, non - teaching staff and should be headed by the Head of the Institution. The Anti - Ragging Squad, in contrast, should be a body with vigil, oversight and patrolling functions and should appropriately by a smaller body which should be nominated by the Head of the Institution with such representation as considered necessary to keep it mobile, alert and active at all time. The Squad may be called upon to make surprise raids on hostels and other hot sports and should be empowered to inspect places of potential ragging. . The Squad should work under the overall guidance of Anti- Ragging Committee. The Squad should not have any outside representation and should only consist of members belonging to the various sections of the campus community."

(iv) Recommendation No. 5.28: "At the level of the District, we recommend a District level Anti - Ragging Committee, which should consist of the Heads of Higher Education Institutions as members. It should be headed by the District Collector / Deputy Commissioner / District Magistrate and should also have the Superintendent of Police / SSP of the District as member. The Additional District Magistrate should be a member – secretary of the Committee, which should also have representation of the local media and district level Non Government Organizations actively associated in youth de