The Kerala High Court rejected the writ petition submitted by Dr MR Saseendranath today, Thursday, April 25, according to an IANS report.
The suspended vice-chancellor of Kerala Veterinary and Animal Science University had contested the Chancellor's actions against him while an inquiry into a student's death was ongoing.
Vice-Chancellor faced suspension due to neglect of duty
Saseendranath faced suspension due to alleged neglect of duty and perceived lack of dedication following the suicide of JS Sidharthan, a second-year student in the Bachelor of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry programme at the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences in Pookode, Wayanad district in Kerala.
Sidharthan was found hanging in his hostel room at the college on February 18. After reports of a brutal assault from a group of students in the college, most of them belonging to the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), the student’s wing of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), a furor broke out.
Twenty accused students have been arrested so far, with the Vice-Chancellor, Dean, and the Assistant Warden of the institute being suspended.
Court dismissed petition acknowledging incident being serious
As the Court dismissed the VC's petition, it observed, "This is a serious incident which allegedly occurred inside a college campus in front of a large number of students, and the deceased was allegedly subjected to inhumane torture for days together, which ultimately led to his suicide."
It further stated that people involved with the incident as well as officials who either knowingly or unknowingly failed to intervene and prevent the escalation of torture resulting in death, be held accountable.
According to IANS, the court also held that as per the arguments of the Vice-Chancellor that he had no knowledge of the torture meted out to Sidharthan were not believable.
"In such circumstances, the contention of the petitioner regarding the lack of knowledge of the torture of the deceased, until 21.02.2024, appears to be not convincing, at least prima facie. This probably suggests maladministration or dereliction of duty of the persons concerned including the petitioner (Vice Chancellor). Therefore, this is a matter to be inquired into by conducting a fair and impartial inquiry," it added, while disissing the petition.
