Daijiworld Media Network - Thiruvananthapuram (SP)
Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 21: A college student from Kozhikode, Kerala, was not agreeable with the rules of the hostel where she had got the accommodation that all hostel inmates have to deposit their mobile phones with the hostel warden between 6 pm and 10 pm. She refused to follow this rule, and was promptly driven out of the hostel. She fought against the rule, and the state high court, on Thursday September 20, passed a judgement stating that the said rule was unwarranted and unreasonable. It has asked the authorities to admit the student into the hostel.
The student in question who gustily followed her case and won it happens to be 19-year-old Fatima Shirin, a second year student of Sri Narayana Guru College at Kozhikode, Kerala. She had refused to deposit her mobile phone with the warden between 6 pm and 10 pm and therefore got expelled from the hostel. Till recently, the hostel had followed the rule that all girl students at the hostel were to leave their mobile phones and laptops with the warden between 10 pm to 6 am. The above change in rule had been brought about in June this year.
Fatima says that students use mobile phones and internet for many purpose including studies. She claims that she uses her phone for studies, assignments, and research, and clarified that she did not fall in line with the hostel rule as it would have deprived her of access to information during her study hours. Her father understood he predicament and supported her legal fight.
She contended in the high court that the rule about depositing of mobile phones with the warden was tantamount to encroachment of her fundamental right to freedom of expression, as well as right to privacy and education. She drew the attention of the high court about the budget speech of the finance minister about making internet accessible to all.
After Fatima was removed from the hostel, she had to travel about 120 km every day from her home to the college. The court judgement has given her relief from this ordeal and saved her time for study. It is however, learnt that the college had enforced the above rule on the basis of various complaints received from the parents.