Students fined for ‘derogatory’ play will get chance to appeal: IIT-B director

IIT Bombay fines students for controversial play Raahovan based on Ramayana, allowing them to appeal decision; no academic losses incurred.

Mumbai: Days after the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) decided to fine eight students who staged a controversial play based on the Ramayana up to ₹1.2 lakh, the university’s director clarified on Thursday that the students can appeal the decision.

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The play, called Raahovan, was staged at the institute’s Performing Arts Festival on March 31. Described as a feminist interpretation of the Ramayana, the play sparked protests from a section of students who said it “depicted the Ramayana in a derogatory manner”.

IIT-B took up the matter in a disciplinary action committee (DAC) meeting held on May 8 and informed all the students about the action it’s taking on June 4. The institute imposed a fine of ₹1.20 lakh each on four students who are graduating this July. The four others, who are undergraduates, were asked to pay a fine of ₹40,000 each and were also ordered to vacate their hostel accommodation, according to sources.

Commenting for the first time on the matter, Professor Shireesh Kedare, director of IIT Bombay, said that the DAC is an autonomous body in the institute and has the full right to take action in such cases, as per the institute’s rules. “We are not able to interfere in their operations. But these students have a chance to appeal to the dean of student affairs. Then, if they are not satisfied, they can also lodge their grievance with the chairman of the governing council.”

Kedare added that the institute attempted to minimise the students’ academic losses. “We are not withholding the degree of any student or debarring anyone,” he said.