Tashar Jadhav, Abhijit Rokade, Deepak Dhirave, Laxmikant Jadhav, Semedh Kulkarni, Ashish Muley, Rajendra Patil, Firdosh Khan and Sagar Bhagwat - students of the Government Engineering College in Pune - were suspended for five years for ragging Tejas Joshi in July this year.

On August 27, the college lodged a first information report with the police which registered a case against them. The students were suspended after a four-member committee gave a report on the incident.

The Anti-Ragging Law provides for suspension of the student from the college for five years besides a two-year jail term and fine of Rs 10,000.

Counsel for students, Suresh Pakale, argued that although the State Legislature had passed the anti-ragging bill, the latter had not been gazetted. Hence, the Act had not come into effect and in the absence of any such law, criminal proceedings could not be launched against the petitioners.

Moreover, he argued, the bill was unconstitutional as it gave college principals arbitrary powers to suspend any student. Besides, it did not contain provisions for conducting a probe into the ragging or even issuing a show cause notice to the accused. Hence, it violated principles of natural justice, he said.

Justice S S Parkar and Justice Rajan Kochar, on September 30 last, directed the government to inform within a week whether the bill was published in the gazette.

Killed on tracks
A 22-year-old man was killed when the Pune-Solapur passenger train ran over him in Loni-Kalbhor on Sunday morning.

According to the Loni Kalbhor police, Sunil Shankar Mane, a resident of Malimala in Loni-Kalbhor was hit by the train when he tried to cross the tracks at the railway crossing near the Ram Krushi factory. He was rushed to Sassson Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.