CHENNAI: It was atonement of a different kind on Independence Day on Thursday. Former Chief Minister K Kamaraj's ancestral home in Virudhunagar had the benefit of an unusual patient clean-up by a group of eight students, rusticated from an Arts college in Arupukkottai for having come drunk to class recently.
From 10 am to 4 pm, the students did a 'Swachh' at Kamaraj's home, now a memorial, including helping visitors.
Then from 4 pm to 6 pm, they stood in a row outside with a banner in hand, propagating the evils of drinking and distributing handbills to passersby to create awareness against alcohol, all in a bid to comply with a Madras High Court order, to enable them to get back to college.
The students also took a pledge that they would not repeat their bad behavior.
The youth, all third year students of B.Sc. Computer Science of Devanagar Arts College in Arupukkottai, were asked to leave the college for having come drunk to class, which the college treated as serious misconduct by the students.
The affected students moved the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court seeking their re-admittance to the College.
However, Mr. Justice Suresh Kumar in his order said the students should first atone for their bad behavior by cleaning Kamaraj's home in Virudhunagar on Independence Day.
The HC asked the college principal to depute one of its professors to the spot to check for the compliance of the court order and submit a report to the court on August 19.
The High Court Madurai bench also wanted the local police inspector in Virudhunagar to monitor the implementation of the court order.
