Kochi, Nov 3 The Kerala High Court on Tuesday allowed the plea of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit and its Vice Chancellor, Ciza Thomas, challenging a single-judge order permitting 16 suspended SFI students to write their semester exams.
The single judge had on October 30 allowed the suspended students to write the exams, scheduled to commence from November 4, and directed the university to accept the necessary examination fees.
A bench of justices Anil K Narendran and Muralee Krishna S set aside the October 30 order on the joint appeal moved by the university and Thomas.
The court said that the single judge “committed a grave error” in granting the interim relief to the students as they had not applied for the exams, within the time limit stipulated in the examination notification, with attendance certificate, progress report, proof of remittance of examination fee, etc.
“In the absence of any pleadings and materials for condonation of shortage of attendance, as per the requirements of the relevant regulations, the single judge went wrong in granting an interim order directing the University to accept the necessary examination fee and permit the petitioners to appear for the ensuing examinations.”
“The impugned interim order dated October 30, 2026 of the single judge, which substantially affects the rights of the University, is liable to be set aside in this writ appeal,” the bench said.
It further said that through the interim order, the single judge directed the university and its officials to act contrary to the requirements of the relevant regulations, “which is legally impermissible” as per various Supreme Court decisions.
“In the above circumstances, based on the conclusions arrived at by this court hereinbefore, we find no reason to sustain the impugned order dated October 30, 2026. In the result, this writ appeal is allowed by setting aside the impugned order of the single judge,” the bench said.
The university and Thomas, in the appeal, had contended that none of the suspended students has successfully cleared the requisite internal examinations and they do not possess the prescribed attendance to be eligible to appear for the examinations.
They claimed that the single judge, without considering any of these essential eligibility criteria, granted the interim relief, which, in effect, amounts to granting the final relief sought in the writ petition.
These claims of the university were disputed by the students, whose lawyer told the bench that they had cleared the internal exams and had the minimum required attendance.
Meanwhile, state Higher Education Minister Roji M John said that he was not someone who takes pleasure in students being unable to appear for their examinations.
“As Education Minister, I want students to be able to write their examinations and have all the facilities they need to study without any difficulties. However, the court verdict has gone against them. I have held discussions with everyone concerned, including the government, the university and the syndicate.
“Both the university and the syndicate want to create an opportunity for these students to appear for their examinations. That is why the university put forward a proposal. It is a fact that the students have made a mistake. But our approach is not to keep students out of the university indefinitely as punishment for that mistake,” the minister said in a statement.
He said that the university, the syndicate and the government are all of the view that if the students submit an apology, they should be taken back and allowed to appear for their examinations.
“They will be given an opportunity to do so, even if it takes some more time,” John said.
The suspended students had begun a hunger strike on Monday outside the university.
They termed the High Court decision “disappointing”, but said the protest shall continue.
They also said that they will take legal measures against it.
“The university is playing with the future of the students,” one of the protestors told reporters.
The university students are under suspension for over two months for staging a mock cremation of the VC and allegedly assaulting her.
On Monday, the Syndicate of the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, also known as the Kalady University, had decided that the suspension of 12 out of the 16 students can be revoked if they apologised in writing to the VC.
The Syndicate members said that the suspension period of the remaining four students would be increased by another two months as they had entered the university despite being on suspension.
In response to the Syndicate decision, the Students Federation of India (SFI) said there will be no apology from their side.
Earlier in the day, CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that it was RSS leaders, including V D Savarkar, who had allegedly apologised to the British and promised not to take part in the Indian freedom struggle to escape punishment.
“That kind of stand will not be taken by the SFI in Keralam. There will be strong protests against any anti-student decision,” he said.
(PTI News)
