The Bombay High Court (HC) has begun examining the suspension case of Ramadas Prini Sivanandan, a Dalit PhD scholar from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), challenging the institution's disciplinary action against him, informed the Progressive Students’ Forum (PSF), a student organisation at TISS.

In the statement posted on their X account yesterday, November 14, PSF stated that Ramadas, a member of the Students' Federation of India (SFI), was suspended for two years in April 2024 after being labelled “anti-national” in a show-cause notice and an empowered committee report alleging misconduct during a student march criticising the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP)-led Central Government’s education policies.

During earlier hearings, the counsels for TISS and the University Grants Commission (UGC) argued that Ramadas should appeal to the TISS vice-chancellor rather than have the matter reviewed by the court. However, the high court rejected this, noting that the vice-chancellor had already approved the disciplinary action, making such an appeal “futile”, informs PSF.

“This court decision is significant, as it marks a departure from the previous experiences where student petitions are redirected to university authorities for reconsideration in the recent past,” the forum adds in its statement.

It further states that on November 11, 2024, the court began evaluating the show-cause notice and the empowered committee’s report, which recommended Ramadas’s suspension. The TISS administration filed a third affidavit, citing new evidence to justify the penalty, but these claims had not been disclosed earlier.

The case will next be heard on December 3, 2024, following a request from TISS.

PSF claims that the outcome of this case is expected to set a precedent for student rights in academic institutions nationwide, as Ramadas has been barred from accessing education for over seven months.