Political activities have no place in educational institutions: Keralam HC

Kerala High Court building in Ernakulam. File | Photo credit: The Hindu

A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court held that political activities like dharna, hunger strikes and Satyagraha “have no place in a constitutional democracy, much less in academic institutions”, as it struck down a Single Bench order that allowed 16 activists of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) to sit for the semester examinations at the Sree Sankaracharya University of Kalady Sansk.

The court cited another Division Bench judgment of 2017 which observed that educational institutions are meant to impart education, not politics. It also states that anyone indulging in such activities in an educational institution could be expelled or rusticated.

A division bench of Justices Anil K. Narendran and S. Muralee Krishna recalled that the 2017 judgment also quoted the words of BR Ambedkar in 1949. Ambedkar said that “to preserve democracy we must abandon the bloody methods of revolution”, that “we must abandon the method of civil disobedience and where there can be no constitutional methods, openness and non-cooperation satyagraha”. justification of these unconstitutional methods.

On this premise, the Court held that the suspended student would have to bear the consequences of the suspension, such as absenteeism.

In the absence of declarations from the students to indicate that they are eligible to appear for the examinations, the Single Bench erred in granting permission, the Division Bench observed. He further said that the students had not produced any evidence of the required internal assessment marks or attendance before the Single Bench.

The students were suspended pending investigation for allegedly staging, tampering with, and attempting to damage property of Vice-Chancellor Ciza Thomas’s fake cremation. The university syndicate set up a commission of inquiry to look into the alleged incident and take disciplinary action. The commission found the students guilty and recommended action.

SFÚ activists denied the allegations and claimed that their protest was to highlight their 18-point charter of demands, including the appointment of required faculty and provision of basic facilities for students across various departments.

Published – November 4, 2026 11:00 PM IST