Punjab Higher Education Minister HARJOT Singh Bains has strongly criticized Panjab University, Chandigarh’s decision to make an affidavit/undertaking mandatory for new admissions in the 2025–26 academic session, calling it “dictatorial and arbitrary.” In response, he wrote to the university’s Vice Chancellor on Tuesday, demanding an explanation.
In his letter, Minister HARJOT Bains—who also serves as an ex-officio member of the university Senate—questioned the process behind the affidavit decision, specifically asking whether it was passed through the University Senate or Syndicate.
He pointed out that numerous students have raised serious concerns about the affidavit, particularly clauses that require prior permission for protests, limit demonstrations to designated areas, and include vague and questionable terms such as “outsider,” “stranger,” and “ugly.”Minister HARJOT Bains noted that students found these terms unethical and dehumanizing. He further highlighted that provisions allowing cancellation of admission or lifetime campus bans without any notice or right to appeal violate basic principles of due process and fairness.
Minister HARJOT Bains said the decision has sparked widespread dissatisfaction within the academic community. Emphasizing Panjab University’s rich legacy of nurturing leadership and intellectual discourse, he warned that the new affidavit could suppress student activism and erode the university’s democratic ethos by curbing freedom of expression—protected under Article 19 of the Indian Constitution.
As both the state’s Higher Education Minister and a Senate member of the university, Minister HARJOT Bains urged the Vice Chancellor to immediately reconsider the decision and review the affidavit’s contents to ensure they uphold students’ constitutional rights and preserve the institution’s spirit of open dialogue and critical thinking.