Or they could just not do drugs. You can’t have it both ways. You get privacy if you behave like adults. Do your drugs, don’t do crimes, and if you OD there shouldn’t be crying and protesting against the university. Clearly students can’t handle that - so you don’t get privacy, you get bag searches.

I don’t even think bag searches work, but if you’re gonna hold admin accountable when bad things happen because of drugs you consume , then you have to give admin a shot at preventing those things.

Why is AISA always on the wrong side of every issue ? It’s all culture war lately and nothing to do with poor people.

You do realise that if you allow arbitrary searches in the name of drugs today, it leads to more and more arbitrary and draconian searches in any other name in the future. Right to privacy is fundamental to our constitution. Today the searches are to prevent drug usage and limited to pocket checks, tomorrow it will be for something else and will even extend to student rooms being searched. It sets a precedent and allows admin to slowly move towards more and more draconian measures to curtail student movement and autonomy.

If autonomy means that you can commit crimes and then hold university accountable for that, then the university is acting reasonably enough in compromising said privacy. Either behave like adults who are not going to look to the university for protection, but to general law enforcement machinery, or else like people who put their trust into the university in knowing the right thing to do. Can't have it both ways.

You do realise the slippery slope is actually a fallacy and not an argument right ?

If you lock up criminals today - some day the state will lock up innocent people isn’t actually convincing. We can actually differentiate in life between like and unlike. We do it everyday. Police conduct raids on drug dens everyday without ever bursting through my house. Security check on airplanes literally check bags everyday and people understand that safety is more important than privacy when you’re up in the air and a crazy person might have a knife or a gun or a bomb.

Privacy is not the only value at play here- the rule of law , the safety of other students and yours , all of that is at play too. The right to privacy is a judicial creation that’s not anywhere in our constitution. Created whole cloth by judges it can be destroyed whole cloth by judges too. Law students should know better than making such simplistic WhatsApp arguments.

In any case I don’t actually disagree with you. I’d like for universities to not check my bags. And for everyone to imbibe whatever substances they choose provided they aren’t being a danger to others. But I do think it should come with responsibility. It’s not fair to demand privacy to do crimes while holding the university accountable for your actions. If you choose to do drugs- your mental decline , your failing academic career , the crimes you commit , whether or not you OD should all be your responsibility alone. Don’t cry or complain about the admin when you won’t give them a shot to fix the problem. If admin catches you with drugs - they are duty bound to initiate criminal proceedings. If you can bear all that responsibility - like the adults you’re pretending to be. Then you have the freedom to do as you choose.

That’s all I’m saying. Explain to me why that’s unfair ? Why do Indian students want to rebel and be babied at the same time? Why ask to be treated like adults when you’re choosing to drown yourself in alcohol and drugs and entering into relationships and then demand to be protected like children when you get in trouble because of your choices ? There’s really no way to have it both ways.

And when Marijuana is legal in India, people who smoke it and sell it here will not actually be criminals. You're on a lawyer's forum, and you have no respect for the law!

Theres nothing regressive or boomer about my comment. I didnt name marijuana, drugs of far more intense varieties are all the rage in Ashoka and other law schools nowadays. in any case if you read my comment youd know I'm alright with folks doing whatever drugs they want provided they dont hold others responsible for their decisions.

This is the constant problem with Indian students at Indian unis (especially the fake "flashy" kind like Ashoka). Always ruining their reputation by protesting about utterly silly, childish, nonsense stuff. At least in Oxford and Columbia and other western unis they are protesting about Gaza. The fact that that stuff is totally wrong-headed also is another matter altogether, but at least they are protesting on serious matters!

State NLUs are no better....

https://www.barandbench.com/news/lawschools/nlu-odisha-students-launch-protest-over-academic-policies-lack-of-infrastructure
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Well said. Even as we speak students in NLUO are protesting for flimsy reasons...
https://www.barandbench.com/news/lawschools/nlu-odisha-administration-accuses-students-of-arm-twisting-calls-protests-illegal

I am completely with the students on this. The administration has spent to bring in scanners, metal detectors, and additional security guards (all costing lots of money) to check students. All of this money has come from the student fees. So the university is using student fees to harrass students. Students paying ₹1 lac a month in fees deserve full freedom. After all, they are funding the university - as customers they have the most say.

thats ridiculous. Do you go to doctors and tell them what to diagnose you with?

If you are a customer, and youre just buying a degree for a summer camp, why should anyone hire you? why should anyone believe you actually learnt anything?

its not wordly wise to be corrupt and its not naive to have bare minimum standards.