Kalady Sanskrit University exam row: SC to hear plea of 16 suspended students on Thursday

Kochi: The Supreme Court will on Thursday hear a plea by 16 suspended students of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit (SSUS), Kalady, challenging their exclusion from semester examinations following disciplinary action over campus protests, including a street play depicting the mock funeral of the Vice-Chancellor Ciza Thomas in August.

The students approached the apex court after a Kerala High Court Division Bench overturned the single bench’s interim order allowing them to pay examination fees and appear for the semester examinations that began on November 4.

Senior Advocate Subhash Chandran, representing the students, sought an urgent hearing before a three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by the Chief Justice of India on Wednesday, pointing out that their first paper was scheduled for 1.30 pm. However, the court listed the matter for Thursday.

Speaking to Onmanorama, Chandran said the petition was filed around 11 pm on Tuesday and had not been processed in time for an immediate hearing.

“We pointed out that an examination was scheduled for 1.30 pm today and requested that the matter be taken up at 1 pm, just before the lunch break. However, the court said it would list the matter tomorrow as the file had not even been put up, since it was filed only at 11 pm last night,” he said.

When Chandran highlighted that the students would lose an examination if the hearing was postponed, the bench indicated that a special examination could be ordered if their case succeeded.

“The court itself said that if our case succeeds and a decision comes in our favour, there would be an opportunity for a special examination. The Supreme Court has no jurisdictional impediment to ordering a special examination for them,” he said.

The High Court Division Bench had overturned a Single Judge’s order provisionally allowing the students to appear for the examinations. It held that statutory regulations governing attendance and internal assessment could not be bypassed, and that attendance shortages caused by disciplinary suspension required valid condonation.

The 16 students comprise six PhD scholars, seven postgraduate students and three undergraduates. Ten undergraduate and postgraduate students missed their first paper on Wednesday.

“Losing today’s examination is deeply distressing for us. However, the Supreme Court’s observation that a re-examination can be arranged if our petition succeeds brings immense relief. We are not looking at an entire lost academic year. There are clear precedents where SSUS has re-conducted examinations for students who missed them under extraordinary circumstances, and we are confident the apex court will protect our constitutional right to education,” said KV Abhijith, one of the affected students.

Questioning the university’s attendance argument, another student said, “For students kept out under suspension for the past 65 days, how could there be attendance? How were we supposed to attend classes?”

The protesting students accused Vice-Chancellor Ciza Thomas of adopting an anti-student stance, alleging a denial of justice.

The dispute began on August 13, when students protested over infrastructure deficiencies, drinking water shortages, hostel restrictions and vacant faculty posts. Tensions escalated outside a Syndicate meeting when students staged a street play symbolically depicting the ‘funeral’.

The university alleged that the performance was a derogatory symbolic funeral targeting the Vice-Chancellor and accused students of obstructing her vehicle and physically intimidating her. The students rejected the allegations, calling them attempts to criminalise artistic dissent.

Higher Education Minister Roji M John said protests were part of campus democracy, but violence could not be tolerated.

“We will definitely accept protests, but we cannot encourage violence. Protests in colleges are part of democracy, but violence affects the smooth running and discipline of an institution,” he said.

On allegations concerning derogatory protest material, he added: “Whether we see a poster, a flag, or a banner, none of us gets a sprained neck over it.”

Earlier, the university Syndicate decided to revoke the suspension of 12 students on condition that they submit written apologies, while extending the suspension of four others by two months over alleged campus entry violations.

Defending the decision, a Syndicate member said the move was intended to protect the students' academic future.

However, the students rejected the apology condition, arguing that accepting it would amount to validating allegations of criminal misconduct.

Meanwhile, they are on the third day of an indefinite relay hunger strike on the Kalady campus.