Published Nov 04, 2026 | 2:21 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 04, 2026 | 2:22 PM
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined an urgent hearing for the petitions filed by 16 suspended students of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, seeking to be permitted to appear for their university examinations.
An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice (CJI) Surya Kant said the matter would be taken up on November 5.
The students’ counsel, Devavrath and K.R. Subhash Chandran, sought an urgent hearing, pointing out that missing the examinations could cost the students an academic year.
The CJI observed that if the students succeed in their case, the Supreme Court has the power to direct the university to conduct special examinations for them.
The students have challenged a High Court Division Bench order setting aside an earlier single bench directive that allowed them to write the examinations.
The Division Bench held that the Single Bench had erred in directing the university to accept examination fees from the students and permit them to write the examinations without fulfilling the requirements under the relevant regulations. It also cited a 2017 judgment which stated that activities such as dharnas, hunger strikes and Satyagraha had no place in a constitutional democracy, much less in academic institutions. It also held that students indulging in such activities could face expulsion or rustication.
The students, all members of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and pursuing MSW, MFA, MA, FYUGP and PhD programmes at the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit in Kalady, were suspended on September 1, pending an inquiry into incidents linked to a protest on August 13. They were also barred from entering the campus, except to attend inquiry proceedings.
(Edited by Fayisa CA)
