TISS moves court against students, hearing on Wednesday

Many students took to social networking sites to share their views as the protests entered its 35th day on Tuesday.

Amid students’ protests and blockades on campus, the management of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has filed a suit against a few protesting students in the city civil court. The first hearing of the case is slated to take place on Wednesday.

Mumbai, India - Mar. 05, 2018: TISS students protest in front of the institute’s main gate in Deonar Mumbai ,India, on Monday, March 05, 2018. (Photo by Praful Gangurde/ Hindustan Times)

“For 35 days, we allowed students to protest. We are giving them their space. But we had to file the injunction after last week’s events,” said a senior official of TISS.

According to the Institute, on March 23, the protesting students encroached upon the registrar’s office and blocked the administrative wing of the institute the next day, making it inaccessible to any staff member. “March is a crucial academic month as well financial year ending. A lot of statutory work is to be completed, including students’ results that need to be declared. We are only doing this so the day-to-day functioning of the institute doesn’t stop,” said the official.

The management has alleged that students also tampered with the CCTV cameras. “How can protesting and fighting for social justice be defined as unlawful? Some of us have received a memo from the institute for our role in vandalism last week, but no such thing took place in the first place,” said one of the students.

Many students took to social networking sites to share their views as the protests entered its 35th day on Tuesday.

Eight students were handed memos on Tuesday, for their role in entering the administrative wing of the institute on March 23 and accessing official documents of the institute, defacing the office space and shouting slogans inside the registrar’s office. “It is apprehended that you [student] illegally entered and accessed the registrar’s office and in doing so, might have tampered with the documents. An official inquiry will be conducted to find this out,” said the letter by the institute to the students. It further states that the institute has video evidence to prove the allegations.

Students agreed on entering the administrative block, but refuted any claims of vandalism during their protest, as stated by the institute. A similar letter has also been marked to the senior police inspector of Trombay police station.

“The situation on campus continues to deteriorate because of your (students’) agitating behaviour to the extent of illegally entering office space, blocking staff from entering their work place, holding people hostage, etc. You are once again asked to refrain from such activities, failing which you will be solely responsible for the consequences,” stated the letter by the administration.