MU monk-protestor to vacate Kalina campus by Sunday

A division bench of justices Ravindra V. Ghuge and Hiten S. Venegavkar was hearing a petition filed by Mumbai University seeking directions to the police to evict Rajesh Balkhande, a PhD scholar in the Marathi department, who has been protesting near the university gate since September last year

Mumbai: The 52-year-old Mumbai University research scholar and Buddhist monk, who has been staging a prolonged protest at the Kalina campus, submitted an undertaking to the Bombay High Court on Thursday that he will vacate the premises by Sunday evening.

Mumbai, India - September 03, 2021: Bombay High Court at Fort, in Mumbai, India, on Friday, September 03, 2021. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times) (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

A division bench of justices Ravindra V. Ghuge and Hiten S. Venegavkar was hearing a petition filed by Mumbai University seeking directions to the police to evict Rajesh Balkhande, a PhD scholar in the Marathi department, who has been protesting near the university gate since September last year. Balkhande has been raising several demands, including government funding for the Pali department, which he said is currently operating without grants, leading to higher course fees.

According to the university, Balkhande was admitted in 2010 but failed to complete his PhD within the stipulated period. Though he continued to occupy a hostel room until 2018, he later left the campus without completing his course. The university said he then travelled to Myanmar to study Buddhism and returned in December 2023 as a monk, after which he was granted one year to complete his thesis.

On August 14, 2025, he submitted a letter to the university management, stating that he is starting a civil resistance or “Satyagrah” against it for another set of demands. The university said that the demands were “not even distinctly connected with his academics”.

In November 2025, the university cancelled his admission and issued multiple notices citing misconduct. It later sealed his hostel room, stating that he was illegally occupying the room. The university also alleged that Balkhande attempted to re-enter the room, abused security personnel and continued protests on campus.

While the university tried to warn Balkhande of such protests, clarifying that such activities within the university premises are not permitted, the 52-year-old student allegedly failed to adhere to the notices and continued with his agitations near the entrance gate of the Kalina campus.

The plea, filed on February 10, highlighted that the management of the university raised several complaints with the police, but no action has been taken yet. However, it said that Balkhande is now agitating by sitting under a tree in the campus and is “disturbing the peace, law and order within the university premises”.

During the hearing on Thursday, Balkhande, through senior advocate Mihir Desai and advocate Sanskruti Yagnik, submitted the undertaking in the high court, after which the bench disposed of the matter.