JUDGMENT

Under challenge in this writ petition is the decision taken by the 3rd respondent rejecting the nomination submitted by the petitioner to contest in the vacancy of first year class representative in the College Union Election of the 2nd respondent college to be held on 25.1.2022.

2. The petitioner asserts that she is 35 years of age and is a First Year student pursuing the BA LLB course at the NSS Law College, Kottiyam. She submitted a nomination for contesting the vacancy of first-year class representative in her college. However, after scrutiny, her name was not included in the list of accepted nominations. The petitioner asserts that the rejection of her nomination was on the ground that her candidature would infringe clause 6.5.1 of the Lyngdoh Committee report. It is contended that the respondents have erroneously interpreted the various clauses of the Lyngdoh Committee report to reject the nomination of the petitioner. The petitioner states that the NSS Law College, being a professional College where there is no age restriction for admission, there cannot be any outer age limit for candidature. It is on these contentions that the petitioner has approached this Court seeking a declaration that she is entitled to get age relaxation for contesting in the College Union Election 2022 in the 2nd respondent College and for a further direction commanding the respondents 2 and 3 to accept the nomination submitted by the petitioner and to permit her to contest the election to be held on 25.1.2022 or such other deferred date.

3. I have heard Sri. Ajayakumar, the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Sri. Thomas Abraham, the learned standing counsel appearing for the University of Kerala.

4. Since the elections are scheduled to be held on 25.1.2022 and in view of the urgency expressed by the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, as consented to by the learned counsel appearing for both sides, the matter is taken up for final disposal.

5. The contention of the petitioner revolves around 6.5.1, 6.5.2 and

6.5.3 of the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee report which has been approved by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. The relevant provisions are extracted below for convenience.

6.5.1. Undergraduate students between the ages of 17 and 22 may contest elections. This age range may be appropriately relaxed in the case of professional colleges, where courses often range between 4 to 5 years.

6.5.2. For Post Graduate Students the maximum age limit to legitimately contest and election would be 24-25 years.

6.5.3. For research Students, the maximum age limit to legitimately contest an election would be 28 years.

6. 6.5 deals with the eligibility criteria for candidates. Insofar as students pursuing the undergraduate course is concerned, only students between the age of 17 and 22 are entitled to contest the elections. However in the case of students pursuing professional courses where the duration of the course is between 4 to 5 years appropriate age relaxation can be granted.

7. In our country, the Graduation system is classified into two parts:

Undergraduate (UG) and Postgraduate (PG). Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. In the usual course, it takes about 3 or 4 years to complete an undergraduate degree. The three-year course may be in the field of Arts, Commerce, Science etc. The four-year programs are mostly in the fields of Technology, Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Agriculture etc. However, insofar as professional courses such as Medicine, Law and Architecture are concerned, the period for completion of the course is usually 5 years. As per the Lyngdoh Committee report, the upper age limit for an undergraduate course student is 22 years. However, for students in professional colleges, taking note of the fact that the courses often take up to 5 years, som