The Assam Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1998

(c)
ASSAM I'ROHIBITION OF RAGGING ACT, 1998*
(Ass am A ct No. II of 1999)
[R eceived l it e (j JS('1I1 of the Governor Oil St]t January . 19( 9)
An Act to pr ch ibi t ra gg ing in th e Ed uca tiona l I ns ti tuti on s i n ...vssam
P r eamblc . W her ea s it is expedien t to pr ohibit raggi ng in the
ed uca ti o nal institu tio n s in As sam ;
It i s here by enac ted in the F o r ty-ni n th Yea r of th e Rep ubl ic o f
I nd ia as follows :
I. S hor l t itle . e x lenI and c ommen cemen t. (I) T his Act may be
ca lle d the A ssam Pr o hib ition of Raggi ng Act, 1998 .
(2) It extends to the whole o f the Stat e of Assam .
(3) It sha ll c ome int o force at once .
2. Definir ion s. In thi s Ac t, unl ess th e COil tex t o th erwise rc qu ires :
(a) " edu cat ion al in stitu tio n" means any coll ege , hav in g degre e
classes and /o r higher sec o ndary cla sses and /o r p ost grad uat e
cla sses, juni or college a nd any level of cla sses abov e th e
H igh Sch o ol s ta nda rd , engineering co lleg e o r Uni versi ty
ad m in is tere d, managed. co nt ro lle d or run by the G o vernment
o r o the rwi se and include s any ho stel, boa rdi ng , p la y g ro u nd,
r o ad, v eh icle , premi ses and othe r pIact's ha ving nexu s with
tl:c afo rc sa iJ in stituti on s impar ting educati o n ;
( b) " G o vern me nt" mean s th e SLate Go vc rnrn cn tjor th e Central
G over nm en t, us the ca se may be ;
" rag ging" mea ns either d ispl ay o f n oisy or d iso rd er ly co n d uct
o r d oi ng o f any ::lCL which cau ses o r Jike ly to cau se soc ial,
p h ysical o r psych ol og ical ha rm o r rai se a p p rehe ns io n o r fear
o r sha me o r embarra ssm ent to any stu d en t in any edu cati onal
ins titut ion, a nd in clu d cs-e-
(i> te a sin g , abu sing o f, pla ying pra cti cal j uke s o n o r causi ng
hu rt to suc h st ud en t; o r
(ii) as ki ng the s t ude nt ttl d o a llY act o r perfor m so me thi ng
whic h such st ude nt w ill no t, in the o rd ina ry co u rse,
willingly do ;
(d) "St ate G ov ern me n t" mea ns the Govern ment of A ss am;
(e ) "vic timi se u st ude nt" mean s a st ude nt wh o is a vic tim of
r aggin g. ..
"'P ub lished in the A ssa m Ga zette , Exf ra ordina ry N o. 2, d at ed
12-1-1999 . vide N o titic a ti n n N o. LGL 16/9R/49 , d ated 12-(-1 999.
[ .\(,1 j
S. 7]
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A SSAM P HOf i lllll lON or RA GG ING Acr , 1998 563
. 3 . . Prohlb itf un orr a g ging. Ragging i n any ed ucat io nal in sti tu ti on
IS pr ohibit e d a nd no person sh a ll co mmit. a he l, pr o pag a te o r pa r tic ipate
in ranging in a ny edu c.ui onat inst itu ti o n. .
4. Penalt y for nl gJ.:ing. Wh o ev er co mm its, p arti cip ate s in , abets
o r propa ga te s ra ggin g iu a ny cduc at ion a l in stituti o n sh nll be puni she d
wit h impri sonmen t f o r a te rm whi ch ma y ex te nd t o s ix mo nths or with
fine which may ext e nd to ten t h o usa nd rupee s, o r with both.
S. E x puls io n o f th e s tude nt fr om Ihe e duca tional ins li lut ion . (I)
An y s t ud e nt c on vict ed of an o tlrn cc u nd er S. "; ~ li a ll be e x pelle d fr om
the con cern ed educa ti ona l insti tu tion to which he o r she be longs for a
peri od o f not le ss t han one academi c se ssio n and su c h s tud e nt sha ll n ot
he a dmi tt ed in any ot her edu cat ion al inst itu tion d u rin g that per iod . .
(2 ) The au tho rity of the con ce rne d ed uca t ion al in stitut ion sha ll
pub lish a t l ea st i n a lea d ing da ily ne wspa pe r o f th e Sla te , th e d el ailed
de scr ipt ion a lo ng w ith nam e. fa the r's n a me, a nd pe rm a ne nt add ress o f
the st u d e n tso expelle d under sub -S, (I) rega rding his. o r her exp u lsio n ,
fo r in formati on of o the r educ at io na l in stitu tio ns with a written intima­
tion to the con cern ed U ni ver sity, Bo a rd or Council , as the case may be ,
which the con cerned in stitu ti on is a ffil ia ted 10 o r r eco g nise d .
6, P Ol\iCr S and func t ions of the head of the educational institution .
(I) W it ho u t prejudi ce to the fore goin g provis ion s, whene ve r an y
student or gu ardi an o r p arent co mp la ins of ragging in wr iting 10 the
head o f educati on al institut ion , o r t o a ny othe r pers on re spon sible for
the managem ent o f t he cc luca tio n al inst it u t io n c o r ccrned, suc h hea d o f
the ed uca t io na l in stituti o n or pe rson respo nsibl e for th e manageme nt o f
the educa tiona l institution . a s t he case may or . sh a ll e nqui re i nt o the
sa me immedia tel y and if found tr ue, sh a ll su spe nd the st udc r.t, who ha s
co mmitted the o ffe nce. fr om the ed uc a tio na l i nsti tut io n im mcdt a rcl v an d
afte r g iving the st u de nt c on ce rne d a reas onab le opportu ni ty or 'be ing
heard . if t he he ad o f the ed u cat ion al instit u tio n o r the pe rso n res po n­
sible fo r the m an ag ement o f t h e ed uca tio na l ins t itu tio n . as t he ca se ma y
be , is s ati sfied th at th e stu den t h HS co mmi tt ed a n y o ffen ce u nd er thi s
Ac t, h e m a y eit he r e x pel o r r ustica te th e s t ud e nt fr om educ ati o nal in sti­
tu tio n for a peri o d o f n o t l ess th an o ne a cad em ic se ssi on o r may pa ss
order as dee me d fu a nd p roper in the la rge r in te res t o f the ed uca tional
in st itut ion in p a rt ic u lar a nd fo r es ta hlish ing acade m ic d isc ip line in
ge ne ral.
(2) Th e decisi on ta ken u nd er sub- S o (t) by the head o f t he I nst itu ­
tion Of th e per so n re sp onsibl e fo r ma nag e me n t of the educ at io na l
insti tution . sha ll be fin al a nd b inding o n t he s t u de n t conc e rned.
7. liabilitv of the head of the ed ucat io na l I nsf itut ion . ( I) If the
head of the ed uc at ion al instit ut ion o r pe rson re sponsib le f or the ma nage­
men t o f th e ed uc at ion al in sti tuti on fai ls or nec le c ts to take a ny ac t io n
in the manne r as pro vid ed in su b-S ( I) of S.6, when a c o mplai nt o f
raggin g is ina d e, suc h hea d o f t he ed ucat ion a l in stitu ti o n o r th e pe r so n
resp o nsib le fo r ma nag emen t of t ne educa ti o na l l nsfit u tio n. a s the C3 '\ C
may be, shall be ma de pcrs on u tly ac c ou n tab le a n d lia b le f o r di sc ip lin ary
pr ocee d ing be fo re th e d e par tme nta l hig he r a u t hor ity .
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564 NORTII- EA ST ~R N R~GJO N LOCAL A CTS & R UL~ S [So 8
(2) The G overnm ent m ay c au se an y dep artmental enqu iry in the
matt er in ca se written complaint is recei ved again st the head of the
instituti on o r th e per sou responsibl e for ma nagement o f the educational
inst itu tion in respect of his fa ilur e o r negligence as s pecified in sub­
S. ( I), and take such appr opr iate ac tion in ac cordan ce with the rules
of the Goverment for the time being in f orce ,
8, Appeal. (I ) Any stude n t, aggrieved by an order of rustication
or expul sion may p refer an appeal against the ode r of the he ad o f the
c ducational institu tion o r t he per son responsible fo r man agement of the
educatio nal in stituti on, as the case may be, before the Commis sio ner
and Secretary to the Government of A ssam , Educat ion Department for
setting aside the order o f such e xpulsion o r rustica tion, as the case may
be, within a period of fifteen days from the date of passing of such
orde r:
Provided t hat in the absence of C ommissioner and Secreta ry, the
Secreta ry t o the Government of As sam, Educati on Department sha ll he
the com pete nt authority to entertain, hear and di spose o f the a ppea l.
(2) After hea ring the appeal the Commis sioner and Secreta ry t o
the G overn ment of Assam, Educati on Dep artm ent , shall di spose of the
appea l within thi r ty d ays from the date of its receipt and pass
appropria te orde r in w riting which shall be fin al a nd binding .
9, Offence to be cog niza ble and bailabl e. An offence under this
Act shall be cognizable and bail able within the me aning of the Code
of Crim inal Procedure, 197 3 (Ac t No.2 of 1974).
10. Court compete nt t o tak e cognizance . (1) No Co urt lower than
a Court of J udicial Magistr at e of the First Class, s hall take cogniza nce
of and tr y a n offence un der thi s Act.
(2) No Court shall ta ke c ognizance of an offence under this Act,
exce pt un der co mplaint in writin g made by or at the instance of the
victimis ed stud ent or on a report in wr iting by a police officer not below
the ra nk of a Sub-Inspector .
11. Power for sum mary tri al. Offences under this Act may be t ried
summarily in t he ma nner pro vided for summa ry trial under the Code
of Criminal Procedure , 1973 (Act N o.2 of 1974).
12. C ompounding. The offences und er this Act shall be co m.
pound abl e at th e i nstance of the c ompl ainant and the victimised stu dent
either before or after the inst itution of th e proceeding s.
13. Powe~ to make ru les. (I) The S tat e Go vernment may ma ke
rule s for carrying ou t all o r any of th e purp oses o f thi s Act,
(2) All rules made under th is Act s hall be publi shed in the officia lGazette ,
(3) All rules ma de by the State Governme nt und er this Act s hall,
as soon as may be a fter the y a re made b e laid be fore the St ate
Legislatur e, whiJ~ it is i n sess ion, for a tot al peri od o f not le ss tha n
four teen days which may be compris ed in one session or in two or mo re
S. 14] ASSAM P ROHI BITI ON OF RAG GINGACT, 1968 565
success ive sessio ns, a nd shall, unless so me l at er date is a ppointed, t ake
e/fect from the da te of the ir publi cati on in t he o fficial Gaze ll e subject
to such m odifica tio ns or annulment as the Legisl atu re ma y, du rin g th e
sa id per iod agree t o ma ke, so ho wever , that any such modificatio n or
an nulm ent sha ll h e w ithout prejudice to the validit y of any thing
previo usly done there unde r.
14. Repeal and saving s. ( I) Th e A ssam Pr ohibiti on o f Ra ggin g
Ordin anc e. 1998 (Assa m Ordina nce No. IV of 1998) is her eby repealed .
(2) Notwith stan ding such repeal anything done or any action tak en
unde r the Ordi nance so re pea led sha ll be de emed to have b een do ne or
taken under the co rrespondi ng provisions o f this Act.

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