Sixteen students from Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit in Kalady have approached the Supreme Court of India to challenge a recent judgment by the Kerala High Court. According to LiveLaw, the students, who are members of the Students Federation of India, are seeking to restore an interim order that permitted them to appear for semester examinations commencing on November 4. The apex court petition aims to reverse a Division Bench decision that set aside the earlier relief granted by a Single Judge on October 30.
The suspension of the 16 students, who are pursuing various postgraduate and doctoral courses, was ordered on September 1, 2026, following a campus protest on August 13. LiveLaw reported that the protest occurred during a Syndicate meeting and involved allegations of a mock cremation of Vice-Chancellor Ciza Thomas. The university constituted an enquiry committee on August 22 to investigate the incident, and the students were barred from the campus except on specific dates for hearing proceedings. The Kerala High Court, in its judgment delivered on November 3, held that the students had a "total lack of pleadings" regarding their entitlement to appear for the exams based on minimum attendance and internal assessment requirements.
In their petition to the Supreme Court, the students argue that the attendance shortfall was a direct consequence of the university's own suspension order. They contend that the Division Bench treated the interim relief as equivalent to the final relief sought in their writ petition, effectively foreclosing their academic opportunity at the interlocutory stage. The students also noted that objections regarding internal assessments were raised for the first time in the writ appeal, leaving them without an opportunity to respond before the Single Judge. The petition was filed through Advocate-on-Record Subhash Chandran.
The dispute also involves two First Information Reports registered in connection with the August 13 incident. According to the petition, the first FIR was registered by Kalady Police on the night of the incident, while a second FIR was filed on August 16 after a complaint by the Vice-Chancellor. The students allege that the second FIR introduced non-bailable offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, including physical assault and a mock cremation, which they claim were not present in the initial police report.