TISS student suspended for “anti-national activity” moves Bombay HC

TISS student moves Bombay High Court challenging suspension for alleged misconduct and anti-national activities, seeks to overturn institute's order.

Mumbai: Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) student Ramadas Pirni Sivanandan, who three weeks ago was suspended and debarred from entering any of the institute’s campuses, has moved the Bombay high court. Justices Atul S Chandurkar and Jitendra S Jain heard the petition on May 10 and asked TISS to file a short affidavit to indicate the alternative remedy available to the petitioner. The matter has been posted for consideration on May 21.

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In his writ petition filed on May 4, the PhD student from the School of Development Studies at TISS asserted that every citizen of a democratic nation, including students, held the fundamental right to freedom of thought and expression. Sivanandan is seeking to overturn the TISS order of April 18, by which he has been suspended for two years for alleged “repetitive misconduct and anti-national activities”.

The Progressive Students Forum (PSF), a student organisation at TISS formerly led by Ramadas, alleged that his suspension was linked to his participation in a January protest march in Delhi against the “anti-student policies” of the central government. However, the institute administration defended the suspension, citing “serious violations of the discipline code for students”. It released a public notice, stating that it was based on findings from a detailed inquiry by an empowered committee into Ramadas’ “repeated misconduct” over time.

The petition seeks to invalidate the report of the empowered committee, citing procedural flaws such as the lack of a personal hearing or an independent inquiry into the allegations. Describing the inquiry as “arbitrary”, the petition contends that the petitioner’s defence was not considered during the committee’s deliberations.

The petition also asserts that a false narrative has been constructed against Ramadas, who possesses outstanding academic credentials, and urges the court to compel the institute to retract the public notice issued on April 20 regarding the action taken against him.