Are you a student in legal trouble with college authorities? Are stories of students being penalised for speaking out worrying you? An initiative launched by the Legal Collective for Students Rights (LCSR), a community of law students and lawyers across Kerala, is here to help. Called, Your Lawyer Friend (YLF), the group aims to legally aid and protect the rights of students.

YLF was formed on February 6, one month after the suicide of Jishnu Pranoy, an engineering student from Nehru College of Engineering in Pampady, Kerala, following alleged harassment by college authorities. “What unfolded before us is, Jishnu’s experience was not an isolated incident but part of a larger problem which prevails in profit-mongering, unregulated private colleges,” said Arjun PK, the head of YLF, which now has 30 law students and 4 practicing lawyers.

After seeing the need and potential for such an organisation, Arjun spoke to Kenneth Joe, a graduate of the National University for Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS), Kochi, and other lawyer friends who found the idea interesting. Subsequently, a set of students from Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram Government Law Colleges and NUALS came together. Additionally, and adding weight to the collective, a team of lawyers from the High Court of Kerala provides pro bono service. Shamnas MT, the CEO of Bodhi Information Solutions, offered technical support free of cost. The team presently has Mohan Gopal (Director of Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies) and N Prasanth, IAS as advisors.

“Being part of a common law system, our public policy is largely determined by litigation and judicial precedent. Students’ voices go unheard in courts owing to the lack of resources whereas college managements hire high profile lawyers. We wanted to bridge this gap,” Arjun said.

Since its inception, YLF has attended to almost 50 queries, and taken up eight cases involving 15 students. Of the eight, five are from the Nehru College of Engineering in Palakkad. “I was asked to repay one lakh rupees which I received through a fee waiver scheme of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). I am now preparing for a legal battle and I thank YLF for being with me,” said Arjun GL, a student from Kozhikode. Yet another student from the same college sought the help of YLF to retrieve his certificates for moving to another university-they were held up for non-payment of fees. YLF took up the case and managed to get a hearing in front of the fee regulatory committee, who ordered that the certificates be returned. “This wouldn’t have been possible without team YLF,” the student-client said.

Most of the cases so far have been from private engineering colleges in Kerala. They have also initiated various online campaigns to allow students to voice their concerns on various issues. For instance one of the campaigns, ‘fines are not fine’, is aimed at analysing the kind of fines imposed by colleges in Kerala.

Meanwhile, YLF has a long way to go, including suspicion and distrust from the public. Arjun explained, “The response from the public is disappointing. Parents look suspicious when we offer a helping hand to the students. I remember a friend telling me that her father enquired whether I am a Maoist when I suggested solutions to their issues. They are afraid of change and advise their children to adjust with the status quo.”

Currently, YLF has spread to three districts of Kerala including Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam. The Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode chapters are headed by Jojimon J and Raniyal Niyada respectively.

There seem to be no plan to expand northward, but as initiatives go, it’s a welcome step. Students are encouraged to visit their website at  www.lcsr.org.in, and speak to a representative, to see if their case has merit and the way forward.