CONSTITUTION
OF
MANIPUR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS UNION
We, the students of Manipur University, keeping in view the contributory role of the students in the process of the flourishment of academic and social life in the state, do hereby resolve to constitute a democratic body of the students’ community:
1. To bring about an intellectual development.
2. To produce a secular image.
3. To promote the idea of social justice
4. To strengthen the concept of national integration.
Article 1: There shall be a body of all the students community of the University.
Article 2: The name of the body shall be called “Manipur university Students’ Union (MUSU)”.
Article 3: The office of the Union shall be located in the Union building inside the campus of the University.
Article 4. Aims and Objectives
i) To promote the academic activities and intellectual development.
ii) To promote social and cultural activities among the student.
iii) To promote sports and other extra-curricular activities for the strengthening of harmonious relationship among the students.
iv) To promote the sense of service, sacrifice and duty to the people of the state.
v) To promote the idea of sense of responsibility towards the development of the University.
vi) To promote the idea of leadership, social justice and mutual respect among the students.
vii) To promote the youth for excellence, strength of character, determination, a will to surpass and yet a desire to work in unison and spirit of co-operation.
viii) To promote universality and wholeness of life and give a sense of nation.
ix) To promote the idea for the protection of basic human rights and self-determination.
Article 5 : Activities
The Union shall have the following activities:-
1. Sports (State, National and International) both indoor and outdoor.
2. Culture (Dance, Music, Drama etc.) in various levels of categories.
3. Debate, lectures, seminar and other academic activities like publication of journal, bulletin, magazine etc.
4. Social service and awareness both inside and outside the University.
5. Social Relief Activities.
Article 6 : Patron
The Vice-Chancellor of the Manipur University shall be the Patron of the Manipur University Students’ Union.
Article 7 : Membership and Duties
1. All the students including Post Graduate, Ph.D. and Bachelor degree courses in the campus shall be the members of the Manipur University Students’ Union. Students undergoing other courses less than 1 year will not be the member of MUSU.
2. The membership of the Union shall cease automatically just after the completion of their course.
3. Every member shall have the right to withdraw their membership from the Union any time.
4. The Union shall have the right to expel any member from the body by a resolution of the Executive Committee.
5. The Union shall not act in any manner whatever which may bring down the image of the University and which may be detrimental to the achievement of the objectives of the University as laid down under the Manipur University Act, 2005.
6. The University shall derecognize or suspend reorganization of the Union for any good and valid reason including breach of conditions of the constitution, the violation of the provisions of the Act, Statutes or Ordinances of the University.
7. The Union shall not raise individual grievances. The Union may, however, raise collective grievances.
Article 8 : Fund
The fund of the Union will be raised by the income collected from the students at the time of admission.
CHAPTER II
Article 9 : General Body
1. All the bonafide members of the Union including the Office Bearers and representative of the various Departments shall be the members of the General Body.
2. One third of the total membership of the Union shall form the quorum of the General Body meeting.
3. The meeting of the General Body shall be convened by a resolution of the Executive Committee after giving 10(ten) days prior notice.
4. In such cases the General Body shall have the sole authoritative power to take a final decision.
Article 10: Executive Committee
1. There shall be an Executive Committee of the Union.
2. The Office bearers and representatives of all departments shall be the members of the Executive Committee.
3. The outgoing President shall be the ex-officio member of the Executive Committee if he/she is a bonafide member of Union.
4. The Executive Committee will carry out the activities of the Union in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.
5. The Dean of Students’ Welfare will monitor the functioning of the Executive Committee.
Article 11 : Disqualification of the members of the Executive Committee
No student shall be entitled to be a member of the Executive Committee if;
(i) He or She is not a member of the Union.
(ii) He or She is completed their course.
(iii) He or She is convicted of a criminal offence including moral turpitude.
(iv) He or She has been found guilty of and punished for the use of unfair means in any of the examinations of Manipur University.
Article 12 : The Office bearers of the Union
1. There shall be the following Office bearers of the Union :-
i) President
ii) General Secretary
iii) Finance Secretary
iv) Cultural Secretary
v) Sports Secretary
2. All the Office Bearers of the Union shall be directly elected by and from amongst the members of the Union by a simple majority vote in accordance with the Constitution and rules framed there under.
3. In order to act the functioning of the President during his or her absence there shall be a position of Vice-President of the Union and it shall be elected by the members of the Executive Committee from amongst the members of the Union under a specific notification and rules from the Office of the Dean of Students’ Welfare of the University.
4. The General Secretary will assign one of the Secretaries to act as General Secretary in his absence.
5. The Vice-President shall have no voting right in the Executive Committee.
6. All the Office bearers of the Union shall be responsible to the Executive Committee and General Body and will function strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
CHAPTER III
Article 13 : Election of Office Bearers and Class Representatives
1. The election of the office bearers of the Union shall be conducted by a Committee constituted and approved by the Patron of the Union.
2. The election Committee shall be headed by the Dean of Students’ Welfare or a person nominated by the Patron of the Union in the absence of the former.
3. The Election Committee shall be constituted by 5(five) members from amongst the non-student community of the University.
4. The election shall be conducted within 10(ten) days from the date of the notification of election.
5. The elections should be held between 6 to 8 weeks from the date of commencement of the academic session.
6. In case there is a dispute in the process of the election, the decision of the Committee shall be final.
7. Election of the office bearers and representatives of various academic departments shall be held on the same day notified by the Office of the Dean of Students’ Welfare in consultation with the Election Committee.
8. There shall be only one representative from each Department.
9. There shall be one representative from amongst the Ph.D. students.
Article 14 : Qualification of Voters
1. All the bonafide students of Manipur University in the campus who got themselves registered on or before the date of the official notification of election date shall have the voting right.
Article 15 : Tenure of the Office bearers
1. The Official tenure of the Office bearers of the Union shall begin from the day of the handing and taking over of charges.
2. The tenure of the Office bearers and Executive Committee shall be only for one year. However, until the new Office bearer takes charge the incumbent President shall carry on the works of Union according to an executive order of the Dean of Students’ Welfare.
Article 16 : Eligibility Criteria for candidates
1. The bonafide students of Manipur University shall be eligible to be the candidate for contesting the candidature of the Union and representatives of all the Departments.
2. The students of Manipur University who are studying in the last Semester course shall not be a candidate.
3. Under graduate 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 24 to 25 years.
4. For Post Graduate Students the maximum age limit to legitimately contest an election would be 24-25 years.
5. For Research Students the maximum age limit to legitimately contest an election would be 28 years.
6. Although, the Committee would refrain from prescribing any particular minimum marks to be attained by the candidate, the candidate should in no event have any academic arrears in the year of contesting the election.
7. The candidate should have attained the minimum percentage of attendance as prescribed by the University or 75% attendance, whichever is higher.
8. The candidate shall have one opportunity to contest for the post of office bearer, and two opportunities to contest for the post of an executive member.
9. The candidate shall not have a previous criminal record, that is to say he should not have been tried and/or convicted of any criminal offence or misdemeanor. The candidate shall also not have been subject to any disciplinary action by the University authority.
10. The candidate must be a regular, full time student of the University and should not be a distance/proximate education students.
This is to say that all eligible candidates must be enrolled in a full time course, the course duration being at least one year.
11. The students of Manipur University who are in the Ph.D. course shall not be allowed to be a candidate if ;
i) He or She who does not have the final registration on or before the notification of election date.
Article 17 : Election – Related Expenditure and Financial Accountability
1. The maximum permitted expenditure per candidate shall be Rs.5,000/- .
2. Each candidate shall, within two weeks of the declaration of the result, submit complete and audited accounts to the University authority. The University shall publish such audited accounts, within 2 days of the submission of such accounts, through a suitable medium so that any member of the student body may freely examine the same.
3. The election of the candidate will be nullified in the event of any non-compliance or in the event of any excessive expenditure.
4. With the view to prevent the inflow of funds from political parties into the student election process, the candidates are specially barred from utilizing funds from any other sources than voluntary contributions from the student body.
Article 18 : Code of Conduct for Candidates and Elections Administrators
1. No candidate shall indulge in, nor shall abet, any activity, which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic, or between any group(s) of students.
2. Criticism of other candidates, when made, shall be confined to their policies and programs, past record and work. Candidates shall refrain from criticism of all aspects of private life, not connected with the public activities of the other candidates or supporters of such other candidates. Criticism of other candidates, or their supporters based on unverified allegations or distortion shall be avoided.
3. There shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes. Places of worship, within or without the campus shall not be used for election propaganda.
4. All candidates shall be prohibited from indulging or abetting, all activities which are considered to be “corrupt practices” and offences, such as bribing of voters, intimidation of voters, impersonation of voters, canvassing or the use of propaganda within 100 meters of polling stations, holding public meetings during the period of 24 hours ending with the hour fixed for the close of the poll, and the transport and conveyance of voters to and from polling station.
5. No candidate shall be permitted to make use of printed posters, printed pamphlets or any other printed material for the purpose of canvassing. Candidate may only utilize hand-made posters for the purpose of canvassing, provided that such hand-made posters are procured within the expenditure limit set.
6. Candidates may only utilize hand-made posters at certain places in the campus, which shall be notified in advance by the election Committee/University authority.
7. No candidates shall be permitted to carry out processions, or public meetings, or in any way canvass or distribute propaganda outside the University campus.
8. No candidates shall, nor shall his/her supporters, deface or cause any destruction to any property of the University campus, for any purpose whatsoever, without the prior written permission of the University authority. All candidates shall be held jointly and severally liable for any destruction /defacing of any University property .
9. During the election period the candidates may hold procession and/or public meetings, provided that such processions and/or public meetings do not, in any manner, disturb the classes and other academic and co-curricular activities of the University. Further, such procession/public meeting may not be held without the prior written permission of the University authority.
10. The use of loudspeakers, vehicles and animals for the purpose of canvassing shall be prohibited.
11. On the day of polling, student organizations and candidates shall –
i) co-operate with the officers on election duty to ensure peaceful and orderly polling and complete freedom to the voters to exercise their franchise without being subjected to any annoyance or obstruction;
ii) not serve or distribute any eatables, or other, solid and liquid consumables, except water on polling day;
iii) not hand out any propaganda on the polling day.
12. Excepting the voters, no one without a valid pass/letter of authority from the election Committee or from the University authority shall enter the polling booths.
13. The election Committee/University authority shall appoint impartial observers. In the case of deemed universities and self-financed institutions, government servants may be appointed as observers. If the candidates have any specific compliant or problem regarding the conduct of the elections they may bring the same to the notice of the observer.
Observers shall also be appointed to oversee the process of nomination of students in institutions that are following the nomination model of student representation.
14. All candidates shall be jointly responsible for ensuring the cleaning up of the polling area within 48 hours of the conclusion of polling.
15. Any contravention of any of the above recommendations may make the candidate liable to be stripped of his candidature, or his elected post, as the case may be. The election Committee/University authority may also take appropriate disciplinary action against such a violator.
In addition to the above-mentioned code of conduct, it is also recommended that certain provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860(Section 153A and Chapter IXA – “Offences Relating to Election”), may also be made applicable to students elections.
Article 19 : Grievance Redressal Mechanism
1. There should be a Grievance Redressal Cell with the Dean (Student Welfare)/teacher in charge of student affairs as its chairman. In addition, one senior faculty member, one senior administrative officer and two final year students – one boy and one girl (till the election results declared, students can be nominated on the basis of merit and/or participation in the co-curricular activities in the previous year). The grievance cell shall be mandated with the redressal of election-related grievances, including, but not limited to breaches of the code of conduct of elections and complaints relating to election-related expenditure. This cell would be the regular unit of the institution.
2. In pursuit of its duties, the grievance cell may prosecute violators of any aspect of the code of conduct or the rulings of the grievance cell. The grievance cell shall serve as the court of original jurisdiction. The institutional head shall have appellate jurisdiction over issues of law and fact in all cases or controversies arising out of the conduct of the elections in which the grievance cell has issued a final decision. Upon review, the institutional head may revoke or modify the sanctions imposed by the grievance cell.
3. In carrying out the duties of the office, the Grievance cell shall conduct proceedings and hearings necessary to fulfill those duties. In executing those duties they shall have the authority:
i) to issue a writ of subpoena to compel candidates, agents and workers, and to request students to appear and give testimony, as well as produce necessary records; and
ii) to inspect the financial reports of any candidate and make those records available for public scrutiny upon request.
4. Members of the Grievance cell are prohibited from filing complaints. Any other student may file a complaint with the Grievance cell, within a period of 3 weeks from the date of declaration of results. All complaints must be filed under the name of the student filing the complaint. The Grievance cell shall act on all complaints within 24 hours after they are received by either dismissing them or calling a hearing.
5. the Grievance cell may dismiss a complaint if :
iii) the complaint was not failed within the time frame prescribed in Recommendation 4 above;
iv) the complaint fails to state a cause of action for which relief may be granted;
v) the complaint has not and/or likely will not suffer injury or damage.
6. If a complaint is not dismissed, then a hearing must be held. The grievance cell shall inform, in writing, or via e-mail, the complaining party and all individuals or groups named in the complaint of the time and place of the hearing. The parties are not considered notified until they have received a copy of the complaint.
7. The hearing shall be held at the earliest possible time, but not within twenty-four (24) hours after receipt of the notice described above, unless all parties agree to waive the 24-hour time constraint.
8. At the time notice of hearing is issued, the Grievance cell, by majority vote, may issue a temporary restraining order, if it determines that such action is necessary to prevent undue or adverse effects on any individual or entity. Any restraining order, once issued, will remain in effect until a decision of the Grievance cell is announced after the hearing or until rescinded by the Grievance cell.
9. All Grievance cell hearings, proceedings, and meetings must be open to the public.
10. All Parties of the Grievance cell hearing shall present themselves at the hearing, may be accompanied by any other student from which they can receive counsel, and have the option to be represented by that counsel.
11. For any hearing a majority of sitting Grievance cell members must be in attendance with the Chair of the Grievance cell presiding. In the absence of the Chair, the responsibility to preside shall fall to an Grievance cell member designated by the Chair.
12. The Grievance cell shall determine the format for the hearing, but must require that both the complaining and responding parties appear physically before the board to discuss the issues through a complaint, answered, rebuttal, and rejoinder format. The purpose of the hearing is to gather the information necessary to make a decision, order, or ruling that will resolve an election dispute. To effectuate this purpose, the following rules should prevail at all hearings :
Complaining parties shall be allowed no more than two witnesses, however the Grievance cell may call witnesses as required. If said witnesses are unable to appear at the hearing, signed affidavits may be submitted the Grievance cell Chair for the purpose of testify by proxy.
All questions and discussions by the parties in dispute shall be directed to the Grievance cell.
There shall be no direct or cross-examination of any party or witness by complaining or responding parties during hearings.
Reasonable time limits may be set by the Grievance cell, provided they give fair and equal treatment to both sides.
The complaining party shall bear the burden of proof.
Decisions, orders, and rulings of the Grievance cell must be concurred to by a majority of the Grievance cell present and shall be announced as soon as possible after the hearing. The Grievance cell shall issue a written opinion of the ruling within 12 hours of announcement of the decision. The written opinion must set forth the findings of fact by the Grievance cell and the conclusions of the law in support of it. Written opinions shall set a precedent for a time period of three election cycles for Grievance cell rulings, and shall guide the Grievance cell in its proceedings. Upon consideration of prior written opinions, the grievance cell may negate the decision, but must provide written documentation of reasons for doing so.
If the decision of the Grievance cell is appealed to the institutional head, the Grievance cell must immediately submit its ruling to the Committee.
The Grievance cell shall select the remedy or sanction most appropriate to both the type and severity of the infraction, as well as the state of mind or intent of the violator as determined by the Grievance cell. Possible remedies and sanctions include, but are not limited to, fines, suspension of campaigning privileges, and disqualification from the election.
Any fine or total amount of fines against a candidate in an election cycle may exceed the spending limit as defined herein above.
If, after a hearing, the Grievance cell finds that provisions of this Code were violated by the candidate, or a candidate’s agents or workers, the Grievance cell may restrict the candidate, or the candidates agents or workers, from engaging in some or all campaign activities for some or all of the remainder of the campaign. If an order is issued covering only part of the remaining campaign period, it shall take effect immediately so that after its termination, the candidate will have an opportunity to resume campaigning during the days immediately prior to and including the election days.
If, after a hearing, the Grievance cell finds that provisions of either this Code or decisions, opinions, orders, or rulings of the Grievance cell have been willfully and blatantly violated by a candidate, or a candidate’s agents or workers, the Grievance cell may disqualify the candidate.
Any party adversely affected by a decision of the Grievance cell may file an appeal with the institutional head within twenty-four (24) hours after the adverse decision is announced. The institutional head shall have discretionary appellate jurisdiction over the Grievance cell in all cases in which error on the part of the Grievance cell is charged.
The decision of the Grievance cell shall and shall have full effect until the appeal is heard and decided by the institutional head.
The instructional head shall hear appeals of Grievance cell rulings as soon as possible, but not within twenty-four (24) hours after the Grievance cell delivers to the Appellant and the institutional head a copy of its written opinion in the case. Appeal may be heard prior to this time, but only if the Appellant waives the right to a written opinion and the institutional head agrees to accept the waivers.
The institutional head can issue suitable orders to suspend or halt the operation of the ruling issued by the Grievance cell until the appeals are decided.
The institutional head shall review findings of the Grievance cell when appealed. The institutional head may affirm or overturn the decision of the Grievance cell, or modify the sanctions imposed.
Article 20 : Maintaining Law and Order on the Campus during the Election Process
Any instance of acute lawlessness or the commission of a criminal offence shall be reported to the police by the University authority as soon as possible, but not later than 12 hours after the alleged commission of the offence.
CHAPTER IV
Article 21 : Power and Function of Office Bearers
1. The President of the Union will be the head of the Executive Committee and Union and will function in all matters relating to the Union in accordance with the constitution.
2. The Secretaries of the Union will act in consultation with the President and will function in all matters relating to the Union in accordance with the constitution.
3. In the absence of the President, the Vice-President of the Union will perform all the function of the President in accordance with the constitution.
4. In the absence of the President and Vice-President the General Secretary will discharge the function of the President in addition to his duties of the Secretary of the Union.
5. The President shall preside over all the meeting of the Union and Executive Committee.
Article 22 : Quorum
One third of the total membership of each body will constitute the quorum of the Executive Committee and General Body meetings respectively.
Article 23 : Vote of No-confidence
1. Not less than one third members of the Executive Committee may move a resolution of no-confidence against any of the elected office bearers.
2. The motion of the resolution of no confidence will be discussed in the General Body of the Union after giving 10(ten) days notice and passed by a majority of not less than two third of the total membership present.
3. In case no-confidence motion is directed against the President, the Vice-President shall preside the meeting and if the Vice-President is absent any member of the Union nominated by the General Body will preside over the meeting.
CHAPTER V
Article 24 : Budget
1. The Executive Committee will have the authority to prepare budget estimate of the Union and shall be placed before the Patron through the Dean of Students Welfare for approval.
2. The expenditure of the Union fund will be incurred strictly within the approved budget.
3. For expenditure more than Rs.5,000/-, the resolutions of the Executive Council and approval of the Dean of Students Welfare will be required.
4. The Finance Secretary in consultation with the Dean of Students Welfare will regulate the disbursement of Union fund in accordance with the rules framed in this regard from time to time.
5. The accounts of union shall be subject to audit by the internal Auditor of the University.
6. Misuse of fund in any form by the office bearers shall be treated as a violation of the constitution of the Union and shall be liable to get punishment.
CHAPTER VI
Article 25: Amendment of Constitution
1. The constitution of Union may be amended from time to time as when required.
2. The proposal for the amendment shall be made by the Executive Committee and placed it before the General Body.
3. The meeting of the General Body will be convened after giving 10(ten) days notice by the Executive Committee.
4. The motion for the amendment shall be passed only when two thirds of the members present voted in favour of it.
5. The provision of the amendment shall come into effect with the approval of the Patron of the Union.
Article 26: Committees and Sub-Committees
1. The Executive Committee shall have the authority to constitute the Sub-committees in relation to the extra-curricular activities with one of the members of the Executive committee as Chairman.
2. The Dean of the Students Welfare shall monitor the working of the Sub-Committees.
3. The number of the office bearers of the Sub-Committees shall be fixed by the Executive Committee in consultation with the Dean of Students Welfare.
4. In the holding of extra-curricular activities in the State level, Regional level, National and International level, the Dean of Students Welfare shall be the Chairman of the Organizing Committee and the General Secretary of the Union will assist him as convener of the Committee. All the Office bearers, representatives in the Executive Committee of the Union shall be the members of the Organizing Committee.
Article 27 : Dissolution
1. The Dean of Students Welfare shall have the right to dissolve the working of the Executive Committee with the approval of the Patron of the Union w.e.f. the Executive Committee completes one year from the day of taking charge of the Union.
