'Politically Motivated Protest Under Banner Of Institute': Bombay HC Upholds Suspension Of TISS PhD Student Accused Of 'Anti-National' Activities

The Bombay High Court has upheld the suspension of a Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) PhD student, Ramadas KS, who was debarred from the institute for 2 years for participating in a protest against the BJP government and implementation of National Education Policy (NEP) under the banner of PSF – TISS.A division bench of Justice A.S. Chandurkar and Justice M.M. Sathaye observed that the said protest/march was politically motivated and noted that TISS was correct in finding that Ramadas created an impression that the views expressed in the march represented the views of the institute and that this brought disrepute to the institute. “It is therefore clear as sunshine that the said march was politically motivated, which the Petitioner participated in under the banner PSF- TISS in a student group. Therefore, the finding of the Committee that the Petitioner created an impression in general public that the politically motivated protest and views were the views of the Respondent/institution TISS, is founded on material available on record and no fault can be found to that extent. This has brought disrepute to the Institute in its view. Petitioner can have any political view of his choice, but so does the Institute.” Ramadas KS (petitioner) first enrolled with TISS for a Masters degree in the course Media and Cultural Studies. He was then awarded a scholarship by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, for PhD course at TISS.The petitioner received a show cause notice from TISS alleging 'misconduct' and 'anti-national activity'. He received show-cause notice as he participated in the demonstration 'Parliament March' in New Delhi on 12.01.2024, where the word 'TISS' was mentioned along with PSF (Progressive Student's Forum) in one poster released by PSF to show that it was student group from TISS. The petitioner then replied to the show-cause notice and after an enquiry, he was suspended from TISS for 2 years and his scholarship was withheld. The High Court noted that the petitioner in his reply to the show-cause notice admitted that he participated in Parliament March and used the word TISS along with abbreviation of PSF in one of the poster.It referred to a pamphlet of the protest, which mentioned 'Save India, Reject BJP' and stated that the RSS-backed government aims to undermine and dismantle the public education system and replace it with a communal, destructive scheme. It opined that using the banner of the institute to express his political views was incorrect. It remarked, “The Petitioner has full freedom of expressing his political view; but to do so under the banner of Respondent Institute is what is objected to by the Institute.”The Court further noted that as per the Honour Code of the institute, the student undertakes that they will not malign the name of the Institution by presenting views on any platform, tarnishing/damaging the name of the institution in public domain. It was of the view that the petitioner violated the said code by expressing his political view under the banner of TISS. For deciding the quantum of petitioner's punishment, TISS had considered his past conduct and this was objected to by the petition. With respect to this, the Court opined that the institute's consideration of the petitioner's past conduct was not incorrect as he was given sufficient notice. It observed “It is settled position of law that in any inquiry, once the delinquent is given sufficient notice about past conduct or antecedents and opportunity is given to the reply to the same, the past conduct can be taken as material consideration while arriving at the quantum of punishment. It is therefore clear that the institute can consider whether the Petitioner has committed previous violation of the Code or other policy.”The Court further noted that the petitioner admitted that he along with other students had gathered for an over-night outside the Director's bungalow at 9.30 pm and participated in sloganeering. It noted that this conduct disturbed the Director from enjoying his/her personal life/rights. It observed that TISS had taken a lenient view against the petition in the past as it had not initiated any actions, however, the institute took seriously the conduct of the petitioner in the politically motivated Parliament March under the banner of PSF – TISS. The Court observed that the suspension of two years was not disproportionate and that the petitioner's freedom of expression was not violated as his actions were prohibited under the institute's rules. It also remarked “The Petitioner while enjoying the financial aid approved by the Respondent/Institute, participated in a clearly politically motivated protest in a student group under a banner having name PSF-TISS. Therefore the necessary effect of such conduct on the decision of the Respondent Institute about grant is bound to follow.”In view of the above, the Court upheld the petitioner's suspension. Case title: Ramadas KS vs....

'Politically Motivated Protest Under Banner Of Institute': Bombay HC Upholds Suspension Of TISS PhD Student Accused Of 'Anti-National' Activities

Sanjana Dadmi

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