SC grants relief to TISS student suspended over anti-Centre protests
Pakistan's paramilitary soldier, left, and Indian Border Security Forces soldier, right, stand guard on their sides, during a daily closing ceremony at the Wagah, a joint post on the Pakistan and India border, near Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
The Supreme Court has granted relief to PhD scholar and student activist Ramadas Prini Sivanandan, who was suspended for two years by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, for alleged misconduct and activities deemed “not in the interest of the nation.”
TISS suspended Ramadas on April 17, 2024, and barred him from entering any of its campuses following his participation in a protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar against the Union government and for organising a documentary screening on the Ayodhya dispute.
Ramadas is a former general secretary of PSF at TISS. He is a member of the central executive committee of Students Federation of India (SFI). In March this year, the Bombay High Court rejected Ramadas’s plea to revoke the suspension, accepting TISS’s claim that he had used the institution’s name in a “politically motivated” protest. Calling the verdict “shocking,” the Dalit scholar told THE WEEK it could derail his PhD journey. “A two-year suspension means I’ve already lost 11 months. I was seeking a permanent solution through legal action, but in vain,” he said back then.
Following his suspension, Ramadas also lost his government fellowship. He later remarked that the core issue surrounding his suspension was the dangerous notion that students receiving government fellowships must refrain from criticising the government. “If this logic is upheld, it implies that all fellowship recipients must remain silent, effectively stifling dissent and critical thought in Indian academia,” Ramadas had said.
The Supreme Court bench, without delving into the merits of the case, ruled that the two-year suspension be limited to the period already undergone and directed TISS to reinstate Ramadas. “TISS having suspended the petitioner on 18th April, 2024 and [with] more than a year having lapsed since, the interest of justice would be best served if the order of suspension is not continued further and he be permitted to pursue the PhD course in TISS,” the order stated.
The court also directed Ramadas to adhere to the institution's code of conduct for the remainder of his time as a student.
India