New Delhi, Sept. 17 -- The Delhi high court on Thursday pulled up Delhi University, the Delhi Police and student organisations over their failure to prevent alleged violence and vandalism during campaigning for the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections, observing that allowing student polls to take on a violent character was unacceptable under any circumstance.

A bench of chief justice DK Upadhyaya and justice Tejas Karia directed the Delhi Police and the university to file reports by Friday detailing the action taken in connection with the incidents, saying democracy could not be allowed to be converted into a "criminal society".

The bench clarified that it was not staying the polls scheduled for Friday, but warned that it ...