Supreme Court directs TISS Mumbai to reinstate dalit PhD scholar suspended for anti-NEP protest

NEW DELHI: After a year’s court battle, Ramadas Prini Sivanandan, the dalit PhD scholar suspended by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Mumbai has secured relief from the Supreme Court. The apex court has directed that TISS Mumbai reinstate him in the department of …. Where he was pursuing a PhD in …

Sivanandan was suspended for two years in April, 2024, for participating in a protest against the union government’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in Delhi. Soon after his suspension, the administration suspended the TISS Mumbai student union itself.

“On the 366th day of legal proceedings since approaching the High Court, I am officially a student again – from today – at the very institution that denied me education 380 days ago,” Sivanandan said in a social media post.

He was denied entry to TISS campuses across states. A few months after his suspension, the organisation he was part of, the Progressive Students Forum (PSF) was banned from conducting any student-led-events on TISS Mumbai campus.

Earlier in March, Bombay High Court refused to provide relief to Sivanandan who was accused of “misconduct and anti-national” activities. After that, he filed a special leave petition in the SC.

TISS Mumbai Vs students

Progressive and left-leaning student organistions Student Federation of India (SFI) had come out in support of Sivanandan after he was suspended and condemned his suspension to “stifle democratic rights of students”.

In January, 2024, Sivanandan had screened the documentary Ram Ke Naam, critical of the ideology upheld by the ruling BJP. This was another strike against his name.

Sivanandan in the statement stated, “As we learn from people's movements, the denial of education to any student was never about affecting just one individual- it was about the fundamental rights of countless students and the question of campus democracy in our higher education system.” He added that this period (during the legal battle) has been a tough fight, taking away a significant amount of time from his education and daily life. “I am glad that I could also be a small part of the resistance. My solidarity to the students of AUD, Jamia, Jadavpur and other universities.”